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The Spirit Land

by Samuel B. Emmons · English · Gutenberg #43237 · 490,595 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: The Spirit Land

Author: Samuel B. Emmons


        
Release date: July 17, 2013 [eBook #43237]
                Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

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[Illustration: THE SPIRIT LAND.]


THE SPIRIT LAND.

by

S. B. EMMONS.







Philadelphia:
John E. Potter and Company.
Nos. 614 and 617 Sansom Street.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
L. P. Crown & Co.,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District
of Massachusetts




TO THE READER.


This volume is intended as an antidote to a species of errors that have
been rife in every age of the Christian church. Notwithstanding the
disclosures the Most High made of himself to his ancient people, they
were yet prone to turn aside from the worship of the true God, to
follow the lying spirits of the prophets of Baal, and other deceivers,
from the days of Moses till the destruction of Jerusalem. So, likewise,
under the Christian dispensation, there has been a succession of
Antichrists, until their name is _legion_, whose teachings have clouded
the understandings and blinded the moral perceptions of men, subverting
the faith of many whose mountains stood strong, and who had been
counted the chosen people of God.

The present is viewed as an age of _isms_. Men have run mad, and are
chasing phantoms. They are roaming round to find some fulcrum to
overturn the church and the Bible; they are imagining they are
receiving utterances from heaven, when nothing is uttered but the
vain fantasies of their own minds and hearts. It is the grossest
fanaticism--fanaticism in its most frightful form, leading its unhappy
victims, not unfrequently, to flagrant crimes, and to the most horrid
of all--that of self-destruction.

These pages are submitted to the public with the counsel of the wisest
and best of all ages, that, amid the wily arts of the adversary, we
should cling to the word of God, the Bible of our fathers, as the only
safe and infallible guide of faith and practice.




NOTE.


We would here give credit to the principal works from which valuable
and important matter has been selected for these pages: Whitman's
Popular Superstitions; Upham's Lectures upon Witchcraft; Christian
Freeman and Family Visitor; Abercrombie on the Intellectual Powers;
Influence of the Imagination upon the Nervous System, by Rev. Grant
Powers; Life of Adam Clarke; Hayward's Book of all Religions; Miller
on the Second Coming of Christ; Borrow's Gypsies of Spain; Stone on
False Prophets and Christs; Dickens's Household Words; Capron and
Barron on the Spirit Knockings; Dick on the Improvement of Society;
Revelations of A. J. Davis; The Great Harmonia; Rogers on Human and
Mundane Agents; Miss Crowe's Night Side of Nature; Spiritual
Telegraph, &c.

As the work embraces a mass of facts of an absorbing and intensely
interesting character, we trust that it will commend itself to an
enlightened and judicious public.

THE AUTHOR.




CONTENTS.


PART FIRST.

INTRODUCTION.

THE OBJECT OF THIS WORK.

                                                                 PAGE

Nursery tales of giants, dwarfs, ghosts, fairies, and witches.--
Their effect upon juvenile minds.--A belief in ghosts still
prevalent.--The excitability of the public mind.--Ghost reported
as having been seen in Waltham, Massachusetts.                     17


CHAPTER I.

ORIGIN OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.

Ignorance of correct reasoning.--Conclusions from particular
facts.--Water boiled by heat.--Signs.--Breaking a mirror.--Gene
ral conclusions from a few facts.--A victim to superstition in
New Hampshire.--How signs may be multiplied.--The design of
the Creator in endowing us with reason.                            19


CHAPTER II.

INDUCTIVE PHILOSOPHY NOT UNDERSTOOD.

Ignorance of it the cause of many superstitions.--Lights seen in
marshy grounds, &c.--Supposed to be supernatural.--Causes of
these lights, and phenomena connected with them.--Shrinking and
swelling of pork in boiling.--Cause.--Supposed influence of the
moon in making soap, grafting trees, cutting timber, &c.--Lunar
influence in matters of wedlock.--Love not to be fed on
moonshine.                                                         22


CHAPTER III.

IGNORANCE OF THE CAUSES OF DREAMS.

Fruitful source of superstitions.--Opinions of ancient divines.
--Dreams related in the Scriptures.--Their object.--Principles
of mental philosophy applied to modern dreams.--Examples of
singular dreams.--Dreams occasioned by sickness.--Fulfilment
of certain dreams.--Causes of the same.--Remarkable case of
a German student.--Case of a member of Congress.--Amusing
case concerning a passage of Scripture.--Necessity of a pure
conscience, and a careful attention to our stomachs.               24


CHAPTER IV.

EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINATION ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.

Ignorance of it has given rise to many superstitions.--Experiments
of Mesmer and Deslon in Paris.--Singular developments.--Trials at
Dr. Franklin's house.--Children uninfluenced by mesmeric operations.
--Magnetizing a tree in Dr. Franklin's garden.--Experiments upon
two females.--Effect produced.--Experiment upon a female by Dr.
Sigault.--Practice among the Chinese.--Girl frightened to death by
a Gypsy.--Practice among the New Zealanders.--Killing others by
incantation.--Intercourse with departed spirits.--An account of
Perkins's metallic tractors.--Their supposed influence in various
diseases.--Suspicions concerning them.--Experiments with wooden
tractors.--Result of these experiments.--Statements of a modern
mesmerizer.                                                        29


CHAPTER V.

IGNORANCE OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY.

This ignorance a cause of many superstitions.--Case of a person
who slept in a bed room supposed to be haunted.--Skeleton seen by
moonlight.--Apparition seen by Dr. Gregory.--Case related by Dr.
Conolly.--Ship's crew frightened by an apparition.--Young lady
supposed to have been murdered by pirates.--Cases of impressions
connected with bodily disease.--Phantasms in febrile diseases.--A
farmer frightened to death by a light in the road.--A figure like
Death striking a lady in her side with a dart.--Illusion of sight
and hearing.--Case of a lady who saw her absent husband standing
by her side.--Countenance of a friend seen in a mirror.--Tunes
heard.--Inverted objects.--Visions of the world of spirits.--Case
of Baron Swedenborg.--Case of a lady in Boston, who saw her
deceased grandmother.--The phantom ship seen in New Haven.--The
science of optics.--Of nauscopy.--Cases of mirage.                 38


CHAPTER VI.

IGNORANCE OF TRUE RELIGION.

God the Supreme Ruler of the Universe.--The natural world governed
by regular laws.--Sign of the howling of a dog under the window.--
Lucky and unlucky days.--Sir Matthew Hale's opinion.--Early laws of
Connecticut.--Superstition of sailors.--Timidity of Voltaire.--
Peace and happiness on all days.--How procured.                    50


CHAPTER VII.

BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT.

A witch as regarded by our fathers.--Compact or agreement with the
devil.--Carried through the air on brooms and spits.--Anointing their
bodies with a magical ointment.--How to prepare the same.--Singular
ceremonies at the meetings of witches.--How they afflicted others.
--The bewitched pins shown to Grace Greenwood.--Mode of examining
and trying witches.--Witch catcher in England.--How he was arrested
and condemned.--Singular record on a church book in Scotland.--
Notice of the Salem witchcraft.--How such superstitions are to be
done away.--Witches and wizards of modern times.                   53


CHAPTER VIII.

NECROMANCY AND FORTUNE TELLING.

Moll Pitcher, the queen of the race.--Her place of abode.--Company
that visited her.--Member of a church sent to consult her.--Casting
out evil spirits in Syria.--Account of Lady Hester Stanhope.--The
astrologer of Hopkinton, Massachusetts.--Chief characteristic of
fortune seekers.--Effects produced upon them.                      58


CHAPTER IX.

FAIRIES, OR WANDERING SPIRITS, AND GYPSIES.

Description of fairies, habits, localities, &c.--Subterranean spirits
in Wales, called _Knockers_.--The _Brownies_ in Scotland.--A farmer
in Ireland who was tormented by fairies.--Method taken to appease
their anger.--Spenser's poem of the Fairy Queen.--Gypsies and their
employments.--Casting the evil eye.--Safeguard against it.--Charm of
the Bible and key.--Superstition called the _elf-shot_.--Practice of
poisoning animals, and the cure.--Superstitions concerning the
loadstone.--Translation of St. Luke into the Gypsy tongue.--
Singular notions of the Gypsies concerning it.--Condemned by the
royal edict at Madrid.--The Gypsy choirs at Moscow.--Anecdote of
Madame Catalini.                                                   61


CHAPTER X.

OMENS, CHARMS, AND DIVINATION.

Books published upon these things.--Their injurious tendency.--A
sample of their contents.--Practice of boxers.--Whistling in a
storm at sea.--Setting hens on an _odd_ number of eggs.--Salutes
of an _odd_ number of guns.--Omen concerning the number _thirteen_.
--Methods of ascertaining who will be a future husband.--Crossing
of knives.--Click of insects.--Advent of comets.                   76


CHAPTER XI.

MODERN MIRACLES.

They partake of superstition.--Instructions of the Savior concerning
them.--Object of Scripture miracles.--Modern miracles not satisfactory.
--Judge Howe's opinion concerning Christianity.--Times of miracles
ceased.                                                            79


CHAPTER XII.

FALSE PROPHETS AND CHRISTS.

History of the prophet Matthias.--His career in Albany and New York.
--His deceptions upon conspicuous individuals.--His arrest for
alleged crimes.--Account of John of Leyden.--Sketch of Cochrane,
and his impositions.                                               81


CHAPTER XIII.

MORMON SUPERSTITION.

Account of the golden plates found by Joseph Smith.--Their
translation and publication in a volume.--Peculiar style of the
writings.--Attempt at imitation.--Mormon preachers speaking with
new tongues.--Increase of the doctrine, and why.--Mormon cities
not to be identified.--Strong indications of fabrication.--
Fluency and earnestness of their preachers.--Traits of the
Cochranites.--Effects produced upon their hearers.--An account
of the _real_ origin of the Mormon Bible, and its author.--Of
Joseph Smith, Jr., the Mormon prophet.--His early characteristics.
--Exposure of the indecent ceremonies at Nauvoo; as established
by Smith and others.                                               96


CHAPTER XIV.

MILLER DELUSION.

Prophecies of Mr. Miller.--His computation of time.--Management
to suit his own particular views.--Keeping the world standing
thirty years on a simple _if_.--Various blunders and mistakes.
--Confession of his errors.--False information respecting signs.
--Disappearance of stars.--Of the Aurora Borealis.--Shooting
stars.--Sun and moon turning to blood.--Darkness of the sun.--
Its cause.--Remarkable appearances in various ages of the world.
--Opinion concerning Halley's comet.--Ignorance of the constitution
of comets.--The comet of 1770.--Tests of signs that shall indicate
the end of time.--Scientific men stationed in various parts of the
earth.--No such changes as have been spoken of by the second
advent preachers, observed by them.                               102


CHAPTER XV.

INTERCOURSE WITH DEPARTED SPIRITS.

Spirits, ghosts, and spectres seen in all ages.--Account of the
magic crystals, or divining glasses.--Seeing spirits in Egypt.--
Lady Blessington's crystal in England.--Spirit of Lord Nelson
described.--The Latin language commonly used by spirits.--An
account of spirits that live in the SUN.--Spirits conversing
with human beings.--Mode of communication by letters of fire,
or large printed _capitals_.--Interview with the spirit of
_Pharaoh_.--His present dwelling in the planet _Jupiter_.--
Information gleaned in conversation with him.--Swedenborg's
account of Sir John Franklin.--Describes his situation, blocked
up by _ice_.--Spirits do not understand about _latitude_ and
_longitude_.--Description of the spirit of Socrates, his dress,
&c.--Account of the emperor Alexander in the spirit world.--
Dickens's account of fashionable dupes in England.--The sciences
of astrology and magic.--Practices of high titled ladies in
London.--Account of famous conjurers, or fortune tellers.--
Account of the "rappers," or "knocking spirits."--Children
frightened by their noises.--Snapping of fingers, and clapping
of hands, imitated by the spirits.--Mrs. Fox asks questions of a
spirit.--Answers given by a succession of _raps_.--Account of a
ghost that appeared in Waltham, Massachusetts.--Conversation with
the ghost by a gentleman.--Said he had been murdered, and told by
whom.--Tones of the ghost, (unearthly,) its mode of walking, &c.
--Great excitement on account of the ghost.--Mode of communication
with the _rapping_ spirits.--Tables and chairs moved, sounds heard,
&c.--Band of music, beating of the _bass drum_, and roar of artillery.
--Guitar played by unseen hands.--Ladies' hair taken down and
braided by spirits.--People touched by unseen hands.--How spirits
produce the sounds of _music_.--How they make the _rapping_ noises.
--Account of an interview with the spirit of Dr. Franklin.--
Sounds heard like trying the batteries in the telegraph office.--
Occupation of Franklin in the spirit world.--Getting up a line of
communication between the two worlds.--Dr. Franklin predicts great
changes in the nineteenth century.--Connection of _magnetism_ with
the _spiritual rappings_.--Clairvoyant interpreters between men
and spirits.--Spiritual postmasters, letter paper, and envelopes.
--Letters received from the spiritual worlds.--The _Spirit Journal_,
in Auburn, New York.--Its pages edited, controlled, and superintended
by _spirits_.--The _prophets_ and _apostles_ its conductors, acting
under the LORD SUPREME.--Blunders and errors of the rapping spirits.
--Ignorant spirits.--Mischief produced by them.--Swedenborg's account
of their stupidity.--How to distinguish the sounds made by an
ignorant or an intelligent spirit.--Wonderful precocity of infant
spirits.--Progression of spirits, both upwards and downwards.--
The spirit of Dr. Channing _deteriorated_ in the other world.--
Theological teachings of the rapping spirits.--Prophecy of
Swedenborg concerning the year 1852.--Noises of the _rappers_
indicative of the approach of his prediction.--Are to be considered
as _omens_ of a new advent.--Compared with the Miller prophecy of
1843.--Miracles, both of the rappers and the Millerites.--A sick
man and his bed taken up by spirits.--The body of a Mr. Gordon
taken up by spiritual hands.--Miracles wrought in favor of
_Millerism_.--Miracles wrought in favor of _witchcraft_.--
Millerites taken up by spiritual hands.--Strange noises made
by _spirits_ among the Adventists.--Houses shaken, mirrors
shattered to pieces, furniture broken.--Four women carried
through the air on a _pole_.--Testimony under oath respecting
it.--Account of a bewitched _ventriloquist_.--Witches in 1850.
--What the editor of a Boston journal says of them.--Witches,
ghosts, spooks, and hobgoblins, in all ages of the world.--
Account of a haunted house in Boston.--Every window illuminated
at midnight.--A young man frightened by the scene.--Singular
notion of the Greenlanders respecting the cause of thunder,
and of the Aurora Borealis.--Notion of the ancients concerning
the foundation of the earth.--Of the mathematician Kepler.--
Performance of Signor Blitz.--Effects produced by _ventriloquism_.
--Singular vibrations of the guitar.--Spirit rappings considered
as a new science.--Noises heard by the Wesley family, in 1716.
--Noises heard by Martin Luther.--Empty barrels and hogsheads
tumbling down stairs.--Information of past, present, and future
events.--The fortune tellers in comparison with the spirit rappers.
--Spirits unwilling or unable to spell their own names.--Spiritual
communications on the decline.--Contrast between the doings of
ancient and modern spirits.--Swedenborg's information concerning
the spirit of Melancthon.--A clairvoyant interview with Tom Paine.
--Account of an interview with Mr. Sunderland.--Dialogue with a
young lady.--Interview with a clairvoyant medium in Lowell.--Facts
respecting mesmeric operations.--People deceived by "sympathetic
spirits."--Judson J. Hutchinson made insane.--Exposure of the
deception practised upon him.--Davis's account of Benjamin
Franklin.--Dr. Phelps concerning the "spirit rappers."--Singular
developments at his house.--How tables, chairs, &c., are moved by
spirits.--Exhibitions of "chin music" in London.--Singular
transactions in England, as related by Dr. Thomas Dick.--Tricks
performed by Joe Collins of Oxford.--Spirits seen by the votaries
of St. Vitus, and the Shakers of later times.                     118


CHAPTER XVI.

EVIL EFFECTS OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.

Great waste of time.--Ceremonies among the ancients.--Practices
in Catholic countries.--Injurious practices in Protestant
lands.--Dreams, visions, signs, tricks, omens, &c.--Great waste
of human life.--Account of the trial by _ordeal_.--Murder of
innocent persons.--Belief in dreams and forewarnings.--Modern
miracles, appearances of the dead, &c.--Unfavorable influence of
a belief in dreams.--The death watch, new moon, &c.--Predictions
of Nanny Scott.--Of the good Mrs. Taylor.--Marriages on a stormy
day.--Practice of wedded couples.--Moles on the wrong side of the
body.--Opening books, tricks, fortune telling.--Practice of a
lady in a clergyman's family.--Disadvantageous matrimonial
alliances.--Anticipation of dreadful calamities.--Practice of
Rev. John Wesley.--Temperaments of Melancthon and Luther.--Luck,
chance, fatality, &c.--Saul and the witch of Endor.--Conjurers
and impostors.--Injury done to the cause of medicine.--King's
touch in scrofula.--The _ninth_ son of a _ninth_ son.--The
_seventh_ son of a _seventh_ son.--Cure by the cold hands of
a malefactor.--Plaster on a pitchfork; polishing rusty nails.
--A female heart made into pills for consumption.--Heart taken
out of a female in Maine, and in Waltham, Massachusetts, and
made into pills.--Influence of the imagination.--Account of a
Mr. Austin, in Vermont.--His singular mode of healing the sick.
--Account of the celebrated _rain-water_ doctor.--Sketch of an
_astrological_ physician in New York.--Of Valentine Greataks
and Francisco Bagnone.--Momentary relief obtained, and why.--
Injury done to the cause of religion.--Account of the Pharisees,
compared to vipers and toads, and their numerous progeny.--How
we may know a Pharisee.--A young man catechized by our Savior.
--St. Paul once a Pharisee.--Proof.--Customs among the Catholics.
--Practices of many Protestants.--Mistaken views upon religion.
--Views concerning Satan.--Satan _versus_ Cotton Mather.--Professor
Stuart's views concerning the devil.--_Periodical_ revivals
of religion; the cause.--How to have a constant revival.          165


CHAPTER XVII.

BANISHMENT OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.

How shall it be effected?--The proper use of our _reasoning
faculties_.--The exercise of our understandings.--Persevering
self-discipline.--Conduct towards believers in ghosts, signs,
&c.--Misconduct in families; trying tricks, &c.--How we should
employ our time.--Belief in an all-wise Providence, as Governor
and Controller of all events.--Importance of a correct education
of youth.--Nursery tales and marvellous stories.--Their baneful
influence.--Correct examples before children.--Superstitious
tales to be avoided.--Attention to the means of education.--
Immense value and importance of knowledge.--No lack of means
to educate the young.--Money foolishly wasted in various ways.
--Perseverance in laudable exertions.--The blessing of Heaven
to crown our labors.                                              185


PART SECOND.

MIRACLE IN SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

Miracle performed by spirits in Springfield, Massachusetts.--Case
of biological deception.--Case of a "writing medium."--Effects
produced by pathetism.--Incident related by Miss Martineau.--
Travelling to other countries, and to other spheres.--Singular
feat by a boy of Dr. Phelps.--Wonderful case of a lady in New
Jersey.--Advice of Hon. Horace Greely.--Testimony of Rev. Dr.
Phelps.                                                           191


PERSONS TRAINED BY A LECTURER ON MAGNETISM.                       199


SCENE AT EAST BOSTON.

"Circle" at the house of Mr. Hoyt, at East Boston.--Effects of
vital electricity.--Imitating handwritings, writing poetry, music,
&c.                                                               200


EXTRACT FROM THE PURITAN RECORDER.

Facts related by a gentleman of Maine.--Renunciation of a spirit
rapper.--Murder committed at the instigation of "spirits."--
Conflicting testimony concerning John Thompson.--Experiments
of Mr. Kellogg, the table lifter.--Discovery by Dr. Taylor,
the writing medium.--Renunciation of Mr. Cooley, of Springfield,
Massachusetts.--Attempt to murder a family in Barre, Massachusetts.
--Sacrifice of the innocent in heathen countries.--Great danger
in civilized communities.--Reports concerning the burning of
the Lunatic Asylum in Maine.--Testimony of Professor Stowe.--
Reply of Bingham to Professor Pond.--Singular confessions of the
reviewer.--Intelligence said to be communicated by "spirits."--
Vital electricity of embodied and disembodied spirits.            203


EXTRACT FROM THE HOME JOURNAL.

Star singers, concerts, parties, and lectures in the other
spheres.--Studies of French, Italian, geology, chemistry, drawing,
&c.--Semi-clergymen, outsiders, or come-outers.                   215


FORETELLING FUTURE EVENTS.

Prediction concerning the ship Staffordshire.--General Pierce's
election foretold by Professor Anderson's glass bell.--False
predictions of the "spirits."--Error committed by Professor
Lester.--Suggestion of a lady to a sick friend.--Sentiments of
Alexander Pope.                                                   218


VISIONS, MIRACLES, AND WONDERS.

Sights, sounds, signs, miracles, maps, drawings, hieroglyphics.
--Talking cow in Maine.--Her prophecy.--Proposition for _another_
"NEW CHURCH."--Predictions concerning all other churches.--
Opinions three hundred years ago.--Fate of Galileo.               220


CLAIRVOYANT PHYSICIANS.

Prescriptions from the dead.--Power of the imagination.--Wonderful
efficacy of brown bread pills.--Singular cure of palsy, by Sir
Humphrey Davy.                                                    221


STYLE OF "SUPERNAL" COMPOSITIONS.

Fishbough's new work.--Fancy-captivating publications.--Refined
atheism.--Transcendental nonsense.--False communications relating
to patriots, statesmen, orators, and divines.--Mountebank scenes
of "psychology."--Testimony of A. J. Davis, upon the tricks of
the spirit demonstrators.--Concealments, misstatements, and
exaggerations.                                                    223


MYSTERIOUS PHENOMENA, WITH THEIR AGENTS OR CAUSES.

Thumping noises in New Jersey.--Door opened as if struck by a
mallet.--Great excitement.--Glass broken, &c.--Knockings heard in
New Hackensack.--Pile of lumber shaken; tables, chairs, stand,
and candlestick thrown about.--Bags of salt, tin ware, and
cooking utensils thrown in a heap.--An English officer haunted by
noises in the night.--Heavy marble top tables poising themselves
on two legs.--Brass door knockers bewitched.--Commotion among
crockery, tin ware, &c.--Firing a gun at noises in the walls.
--Tearing up floor to get at the noises.--Suit brought for
damages.--Bed of a sick girl raised.--Trembling of the house
walls.--Singular pranks in a factory.--Jerking of the frames,
and cylinder thrown at a distance.--Alarm and flight of the
operatives.--A chest with three men, and a man on a tub, taken
up by an invisible power.--A chair broken between two men's
hands.--An image seated on a stool, clad in white.--Visions of
beings like spirits.--Knockings on the walls, and noises in the
air.--A lady suspended by the tips of the fingers, as a magnet
suspends a piece of iron.--Electrical flashes from a lady's
body.--Knockings made to be heard at a distance.--Quotation from
a work by Rev. T. Hill, of Waltham.--Singular developments in New
York.--Freaks of a knob of a door bell.--Fiery flashes, and fiery
smacks, on kissing.--Blows in the mouth from a speaking tube.--
Account of two girls that could move tables without touching them.
--Effects of storms on raising tables.--Electrical circles in
Cincinnati.--Case of a lady in Strasburg.--Power of giving
electrical shocks to persons at a distance.--Singular effects
of the northern lights on a lady.                                 224


EXPERIMENTS IN BIOLOGY.

Chairs, tables, and persons moved.--Biological table-liftings in
East Boston.--"Mediums," as visible human operators.--Resolve of
the "rappers" at Poughkeepsie.--The unseen agent that moves
tables, beds, &c.--Dancing plates, knives and forks, &c.          264


FACULTY OF IMITATION.

Delivering speeches; imitating orators.--Case related by Walter
Scott.--Case of a man haunted by the devil.--Effects of wine and
heavy eating.--Voice heard by Judge Edmonds.--Lady in Providence
who writes music by "spirits."--Diagram of the spheres, by a lady
in a magnetic state.                                              268


UNSEEN LETTERS AND SIGNATURES.

Imitating unseen letters, signatures, and languages.--Suspicions
concerning Professor Bush.--Singular feat attributed to spirits.
--No difficulty in raising chairs or tables.--Spirits shown by
Egyptian boys.--Unbelief of practising "mediums."--School
children forbidden to move tables, &c.                            273


A DANCING LIGHT.

Dancing light seen in Southboro', Massachusetts.--_Ignis
fatuus_ seen by Dr. Derham.--Corpusants seen by mariners.--
Dampier's account of them.                                        274


SAILORS' OMENS.

Sailors' omens and superstitions.--Devil's power in stirring up
winds.--Losing a cat overboard, a bucket, or a mop.               276


LOVE CHARMS.

Othello winning Desdemona by conjuration.--Execution of a young
lady for giving a love powder.--Her dying confession.--A charm or
an allay for love.                                                277


EFFECTS OF A BELIEF IN A GHOST.

Effects of a belief in the reality of ghosts.--Case at the
University at Cambridge.--A student frightened to death.          279


THE INVISIBLE LADY.

The invisible lady in Boston.--The invisible girl in London.--
Joice Heth, the India rubber woman.--Professor Grimes's
discovery among the "rappers."--Mrs. Culver respecting the
Rochester rappers.                                                280


SORCERERS IN THE EAST.

Persons killed by the enemy's fires.--Singular custom in Java.    281


SINGULAR METAMORPHOSES.

Men turned into tigers by eating a certain root, and turned back
again by eating another.--A tiger-man shot in the woods and
recognized, after having devoured some of his neighbors.--Account
of the wolf mania in Egypt and in Brittany.--A husband that lived
and died a wolf.                                                  282


PERNICIOUS ERRORS RELATING TO HEALTH.

Astrology.--Vegetable oil of swallows, &c.--Cleanliness, diet,
&c.--Ablution.--Ventilation.--Food.--Quality of meats.            284




THE SPIRIT LAND.




INTRODUCTION.


The object of this treatise upon some of the various errors of the past
and present ages is to explain their nature--investigate their
origin--describe their injurious effects--and to offer and recommend
the necessary measures for their banishment. Most persons, even those
who have been well educated, can call to mind the avidity with which,
in their days of childhood, they listened to the nursery tales of
giants, dwarfs, ghosts, fairies, and witches. The effects of these
juvenile impressions are not easily effaced from the mind, and the
impressions themselves are but rarely, if ever, forgotten.

To doubt, in former times, the power of charms, and the veracity of
omens, and ghost stories, was deemed little less than atheism. The
terror caused by them imbittered the lives of persons of all ages. It
either served to shut them out of their own houses, or deterred them
from going abroad after it was dark. The room in which the head of a
family died was for a long time untenanted; particularly if he died
without a will, or was supposed to have entertained any peculiar
religious opinions. If any disconsolate maiden, or love-crossed
bachelor, became the instrument of their own death, the room where the
fatal deed was committed was rendered forever uninhabitable, and not
unfrequently nailed up. If a drunken farmer, returning from market,
fell from his horse, and by the fall broke his own neck, that spot,
ever after, was haunted and impassable. In truth, there was scarcely a
by-lane or cross-way but had its ghost, which appeared in the shape of
a headless cow or horse. Ghosts of a higher degree rode in coaches,
drawn by six headless horses, and driven by a headless coachman. As for
the churchyards, the legitimate habitations of spectres, clothed all in
white, the numbers who swarmed there equalled the living parishioners;
and to pass such a place in the night was more perilous than the
storming of Badajos.

Confuted and ridiculed as these opinions have been, in later days, the
seeds of them are still widely diffused, and at times attempt to spring
up in all their earlier excess. In the year 1832, crowds of men, women,
and children flocked to the village of Waltham, a few miles from
Boston, to see a ghost which was said to make its appearance towards
midnight, walking to and fro in a turf meadow, declaring itself, in
unearthly tones, to be the spirit of a murdered man, whose bones lay in
a mud hole near by. The excitement spread many miles around, and
hundreds from the city and neighboring towns hied to the spot, with
eyes agape, to behold the solemn visitor from the spirit world. And
such was the credulity inspired in the minds of the people, that a
clergyman in the vicinity declared from his pulpit, on the following
Sabbath, that the awful crime of murder had been revealed by the spirit
which had appeared in Waltham! Such is the _excitability_ of the
mind, and its tendency (notwithstanding the light that has been
scattered abroad) to give credence to all the vagaries and nonsense of
the darker ages.




CHAPTER I.

THE ORIGIN OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.


Ignorance of correct reasoning has undoubtedly given rise to many
superstitions. Inductive reasoning teaches us to infer general
conclusions from particular facts which have come under our
observation. This definition may be illustrated by an example. You know
that water boils on the application of a certain degree of heat. You
have seen this experiment tried many times without a single failure.
You therefore conclude that water will always boil on the application
of this degree of heat, although you have seen it applied but to a
small portion of the water in creation. Thus you draw this _general_
conclusion from the few _particular_ facts which you have witnessed.
But had you noticed several failures in the trial, your conclusions
would have been doubtful. And if the experiment had failed ninety-nine
cases out of a hundred, you would have adopted an opposite conclusion.
You would have said that the application of the specified degree of
heat would not boil water. In this way, logical reasoning leads to the
discovery of truth. Now, apply this principle of sound reasoning to the
whole mass of pretended _signs_. Let me select one to show you the
absurdity of believing in any. It is commonly reported that the
breaking of a looking glass betokens death to some member of the
family. This sign probably originated in the following manner: A death
happened to follow the breaking of a mirror. Some ignorant person
immediately concluded that the breaking of the glass was a sure sign of
death. The story soon spread among credulous people, and at length was
handed down from generation to generation as an established truth. But
you readily perceive the absurdity of forming this _general_ conclusion
from _one_ or a _few_ particular facts. We all know that death does not
follow the supposed sign oftener than once in a hundred times; and
therefore the breaking of the glass is almost a sure sign that no death
will immediately take place in the family. But as mirrors are always
breaking, and people are always dying, it is not strange that the
latter event should sometimes follow the former. It would be a miracle
if it did not. But the events have no connection whatever with each
other. The coincidence in any case is altogether accidental. We might
with the same reason affirm that the breaking of a teakettle is the
sign of death, or any thing else, as the breaking of a mirror. But the
truth is, there is no sign in the case. It first originated in
ignorance of correct reasoning, and has been perpetuated by the
credulous. It is but a short time ago that a girl in Exeter, N.H.,
broke a mirror. She believed that ill luck always followed such an
event and therefore became seriously affected in her mind. Finally, her
strength failed, and she died a victim to her superstition. Hence we
perceive the great importance of a just conception and well-informed
judgment upon such apparently trifling, yet oftentimes serious events,
in their effects upon social and individual happiness.

We have only to apply this principle of correct reasoning to every sign
in existence, to find them to be superstitious. We shall find, upon
investigation, that they are based upon no rational evidence, and
consequently are not entitled to our belief or confidence. If they
indicate any thing, it is something directly opposite to what is
generally supposed, for they do not come to pass more than once in a
hundred times, and therefore warrant a different conclusion. Not only
so. If you believe in the present pretended signs, you may make a
million more equally good. A man quarrels after drinking a glass of
wine; you may therefore say that taking a glass of wine is the sign of
a quarrel. A man draws a prize in a lottery; you may say therefore that
the purchase of a ticket is the sign of a fortune. A man dies after
supper; you may say therefore that eating supper is the sign of death.
In this you may multiply signs to infinity, and they will prove just as
true as any now in existence. But our Creator has endowed us with
understanding. He has given us reason to regulate our belief by
satisfactory evidence. And if we do this, we cannot believe in
_any_ of the pretended signs. We must conclude that they have all
originated in ignorance of correct reasoning, and are kept in
remembrance by those who will not use their intellectual powers as
their Maker designed.




CHAPTER II.

INDUCTIVE PHILOSOPHY NOT UNDERSTOOD.


Ignorance of inductive philosophy has given rise to many superstitions.
By the means of inductive philosophy, we are enabled to trace effects
to their true causes. For example: Lights have frequently been seen
dancing over marshy grounds, near tan-yards, and burying-places, and
along the sea shore. Credulous people have believed them to be the
spirits of the uneasy dead. This belief must be considered
superstitious, not having any foundation on rational evidence.
Philosophy teaches that these lights are occasioned by an inflammable
gas, which arises from decayed animal and vegetable substances, and
takes fire on coming in contact with atmospheric air. Thus we may trace
all effects to their true causes.

Many persons have supposed that pork killed in the increase of the moon
would swell in boiling, while that killed in her wane would shrink.
This opinion probably originated in the following manner: Some person
killed, at different periods of the moon, two hogs which had been born
and fattened together. That killed in her increase swelled in boiling;
while the other, killed in her wane, shrunk. He could conceive of no
way to account for the facts but on the supposition of lunar influence.
This conclusion was accordingly adopted, and at length became an
established truth. Yet there was no philosophy in forming this opinion
from a few such facts. More experiments should have been tried; and
they results would have shown that the real cause of the swelling and
shrinking existed in the constitution of the animals. It would have
been discovered that pork of fine and solid texture would commonly
swell, whenever killed; while that of loose and coarse grain would as
generally shrink. And the person would no more have thought of
attributing the difference in his pork to the moon than to the spirit
of Bonaparte.

Let this philosophic principle be applied to this whole class of
superstitions, and we shall arrive at similar results. There is the
supposed influence of the moon on making soap, grafting trees, cutting
timber, and also upon the fortunes of love-sick swains and maidens. The
latter are directed to go out in the evening and stand over the bars of
a gate, and, looking on the moon, repeat the following lines:--

    "All hail to the moon! all hail to thee!
    I pray thee, good moon, reveal to me,
    This night, who my husband shall be."

They must then go directly to bed, and will dream of their future
husband. Upon trial of the experiment, they will probably be inclined
to consider it a dreamy notion altogether; for love is of too serious a
nature to be fed upon mere _moonshine_.




CHAPTER III.

IGNORANCE OF THE CAUSES OF DREAMS.


Ignorance of the causes of our dreams has given rise to many
superstitions. Ancient divines have told us that some of our dreams
proceed from ourselves, others from the Deity, and others again from
the devil. We know, to be sure, from experience, that dreams proceed
from ourselves in _some_, if not in all cases. We admit, however,
that God has spoken to some of his dependent creatures by dreams; for
we learn this from the Holy Scriptures. But such dreams were direct
revelations for the accomplishment of some divine purpose. The volume
of revelation was long since closed, and all that is essential to the
present and eternal happiness of mankind is plainly revealed. There is
therefore no necessity for any further communications from Heaven; and
the gospel does not authorize us to expect any. Dreams may sometimes
strike a conviction upon the mind, which our waking thoughts may fail
to do. And they may sometimes have the appearance of being fulfilled;
and yet there may be no necessity of supposing that God has made us the
special organ of divine communications. Our dreams, in such cases, may
be explained upon the principles of mental philosophy, without
resorting to the miraculous interposition of Deity for an explanation.

To say that the devil is the author of all our disagreeable dreams that
happen generally when we are in some trouble of body, mind, or estate,
is too absurd to believe. And it is specially unbecoming the followers
of Jesus to harbor an opinion so unbecoming in itself, so pernicious in
its consequences, and so derogatory to the supreme Ruler of the
universe. The true doctrine is, that our dreams originate from
ourselves. Some are influenced by our bodily sensations. A person with
a bottle of hot water at his feet dreams of ascending Ætna; and he
finds the heat of the ground almost insupportable. Another kicks the
bed clothes from his feet, and dreams of walking through snow banks,
even in the summer season. Some dreams are influenced by the state of
our stomach and bowels. The hungry prisoner dreams of well-furnished
tables and the pleasures of eating. The glutton dreams of a surfeit and
its attendant unpleasant sensations. Some dreams are influenced by our
dispositions. The person of amiable temper and cheerful spirits is
frequently refreshed with delightful scenes and visions of bliss; while
those of morose, gloomy, irritable, and melancholy habits are generally
harassed with those of a disagreeable and oppressive character. Some
dreams are influenced by the state of our health. Sickness is usually
productive of those of an unpleasant nature; while health secures those
of an opposite description. A gentleman, mentioned by Locke, was not
sensible of dreaming till he had a fever, at the age of twenty-six or
seven. Some dreams are influenced by our waking thoughts. The
mathematician solves difficult problems. The poet roves in Elysian
groves. The miser makes great bargains. The sensualist riots in the
haunts of dissipation. The criminal sees the dungeon or the gallows.
The awakened sinner beholds the flames of hell, or looks upon the
sceptre of pardon; and the Christian anticipates heavenly joy.

Strong mental emotions are sometimes embodied into a dream, which, by
some natural coincidence, is fulfilled. A murderer, mentioned by Mr.
Combe, dreamed of committing murder some years before the event took
place. A clergyman on a visit to the city of Edinburgh, from a distance
in the country, was sleeping at an inn, when he dreamed of seeing a
fire, and one of his children in the midst of it. He awoke with the
impression, and instantly started for home. When he arrived within
sight of his house, he found it on fire, and got there in time to
assist in saving one of his children, who, in the alarm and confusion,
had been left in a situation of danger. Without calling in question the
possibility of supernatural communications in such cases, this striking
occurrence may perhaps be accounted for on simple and natural
principles. Let us suppose that the gentleman had a servant who had
shown great carelessness in regard to fire, which had often given rise
in his mind to a strong apprehension that he might set fire to the
house. His anxiety might be increased by being from home, and the same
circumstances might make the servant still more careless. Let us
further suppose that the gentleman, before going to bed, had, in
addition to this anxiety, suddenly recollected that there was on that
day, in the neighborhood of his house, some fair or periodical merry
making, from which the servant was likely to return home in a state of
intoxication. It was most natural that these impressions should be
embodied into a dream of his house being on fire, and that the same
circumstances might lead to the dream being fulfilled.

The cause of a dream may sometimes be the cause of its fulfilment. A
clergyman dreamed of preaching a sermon on a particular subject. In a
few weeks, he delivered the discourse. His dream was therefore
fulfilled. But his waking thoughts caused the dream, for he had
meditated on this very subject; and they also caused its fulfilment,
for he proceeded to write and deliver the result of his meditations.

A belief in the supernatural origin of dreams sometimes leads to their
fulfilment. A person dreams of approaching sickness. His fears and his
imagination hasten on the calamity. A general, on the eve of battle,
dreamed of a defeat. His belief in dreams deprived him of courage, and,
of course, the enemy conquered. We have on record the case of a German
student, who dreamed that he was to die at a certain hour on the next
day. His friends found him in the morning making his will and arranging
his affairs. As the time drew near, he had every appearance of a person
near his end. Every argument was used to shake his belief in the
supernatural origin of his dream, but all to no effect. At last, the
physician contrived to place the hands of the clock beyond the
specified hour, and by this means saved the student's life. There are
instances on record where death has actually ensued in consequence of
such a belief. It has been produced by the wonderful power the mind
possesses over the body. And there can be no doubt that believers in
dreams often take the most direct means to hasten their fulfilment.

The apparent fulfilment of dreams is sometimes merely accidental. The
dream happens, and the event dreamed of soon follows; but the
coincidence is altogether fortuitous. A member of Congress informed a
friend that he frequently dreamed of the death of some one of his
children, while residing at Washington. The whole scene would appear
before him--the sickness, the death, and the burial; and this too
several times the same night, and on successive nights. His anxiety for
his family caused his dreams. Now, it would have been nothing strange
if a member of his family had died. But in this particular instance it
was not the case. In this way, however, we are always dreaming of our
absent relatives, and it would be singular if a death did not sometimes
occur at the time of the dream. So on all other subjects. One event may
follow the other, and yet the coincidence be perfectly accidental.
There are occasionally some amusing cases of this kind. A person
dreamed three times in one night that he must turn to the seventh verse
of the fifth chapter of Ecclesiastes, and he would find important
instruction. He arose in the morning, and, referring to the specified
passage, found these words: "_In the multitude of dreams there are
divers vanities._"

Finally, the occasion of some dreams seems as yet inexplicable. But as
we can account for so large a portion of them, it is rational to
believe that the causes of the few mysterious ones will be hereafter
satisfactorily explained. We think we are safe in believing that all
our dreams are caused by some principle of our intellectual or animal
nature. Let us then pay no further regard to them than to aim by a pure
conscience before God, and a careful attention to our stomachs and
health, to have them refreshing and agreeable.




CHAPTER IV.

EFFECTS OF THE IMAGINATION ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.


Ignorance of the influence of the imagination upon the nervous system
has given rise to many superstitions. We will give a few statements of
facts to establish and illustrate this position. Some time previous to
1784, a gentleman in Paris, by the name of Mesmer, professed to have
discovered a universal remedy for all diseases; and this remedy
consisted in being _magnetized_ under peculiar forms and circumstances.
M. Mesmer became so noted for his discovery, and he performed such
extraordinary cures, that, in 1784, the French king appointed a
committee, consisting of four physicians and five members of the Royal
Academy of Sciences, to investigate this matter. The committee, as soon
as they had examined the whole apparatus employed in magnetizing, and
taken cognizance of the manoeuvres of Mesmer, and his partner, Deslon,
proceeded to notice the symptoms of the patients while under the
influence of magnetism. These were various in different individuals.
Some were calm and tranquil, and felt nothing; others were affected
with coughing and spitting, with pains, heats, and perspirations; and
some were agitated and tortured with convulsions. These convulsions
were sometimes continued for three hours, accompanied with
expectoration of a viscid phlegm, ejected by violent efforts, and
sometimes streaked with blood. They had involuntary motions of the
limbs, of the whole body, and spasms of the throat. Their eyes wandered
in wild motions; they uttered piercing shrieks, wept, laughed, and
hiccoughed. The commissioners observed that the great majority of those
thus effected were females, and that these exhibitions did not begin
until they had been under the operation of magnetism one or two hours,
and that, when one became affected, the rest were soon seen in the same
situation. In order to give the magnetizer the fairest opportunity to
exhibit the power of his invention, and to give the most satisfactory
evidence to the public, the commissioners all submitted to be operated
upon themselves, and sat under the operation two hours and a half, but
without the least effect upon them, except the fatigue of sitting so
long in one position. They were magnetized three days in succession,
but without any sensible effect being produced. The magnetizing
instruments were then removed to Dr. Franklin's house, away from public
view, parade, and high expectation, and fourteen persons were then
magnetized, all of them invalids. Nine of them experienced nothing,
five appeared slightly affected, and the commissioners were surprised
to learn, in every instance, that the poor and ignorant alone were
affected. After this eight men and two women were magnetized, but
without the least effect. At length a female servant submitted to the
same operation, and she affirmed that she felt a heat in every part
where the magnetized finger was pointed at her; that she experienced a
pain in her head; and, during a continuation of the operation, she
became faint, and swooned. When she had fully recovered, they ordered
her eyes to be bandaged, and the operator was removed at a distance,
when they made her believe that she was still under the operation, and
the effects were the same, although no one operated, either near her or
at a distance. She could tell the very place where she was magnetized;
she felt the same heat in her back and loins, and the same pain in her
eyes and ears. At the end of one quarter of an hour, a sign was made
for her to be magnetized, but she felt nothing. On the following day, a
man and woman were magnetized in a similar manner, and the result was
the same. It was found that to direct the _imagination_ to the parts
where the sensations were to be felt, was all that was necessary to
produce these wonderful effects. But _children_, who had not arrived at
sufficient maturity of age to be excited by these imposing forms,
experienced nothing from the operation.

Mesmer and Deslon asserted that they could magnetize a tree, and every
person approaching the tree, in a given time, would be magnetized, and
either fall into a swoon or in convulsions, provided the magnetizer was
permitted to stand at a distance and direct his look and his cane
towards the tree. Accordingly, an apricot tree was selected in Dr.
Franklin's garden, at Vassy, for the experiment, and M. Deslon came and
magnetized the tree while the patient was retained in the house. The
patient was then brought out, with a bandage over his eyes, and
successively lead to four trees, which were not magnetized, and was
directed to embrace each tree two minutes, while M. Deslon, at a
distance, stood pointing his cane to the tree actually magnetized. At
the first tree, which was about twenty-seven feet from the magnetized
tree, the patient sweat profusely, coughed, expectorated, and said he
felt a pain in his head. At the second tree, now thirty feet from the
magnetized tree, he found himself giddy, attended with headache, as
before. At the third tree, his giddiness and headache were much
increased, and he said he believed he was approaching the magnetized
tree, although he was still twenty-eight feet from it. At length, when
brought to the fourth tree, _not magnetized_, and at the distance
of twenty-four feet from that which was, the young man fell down in a
state of perfect insensibility; his limbs became rigid, and he was
carried to a grass plot, where M. Deslon went to his assistance and
recovered him. And yet, in no instance had he approached within a less
distance than twenty-four feet of the magnetized tree.

A similar experiment was soon afterwards made on two poor females, at
Dr. Franklin's house. These women were separated from each other. Three
of the commissioners remained with one of them in one chamber, and two
of them with the other, in an adjoining chamber. The first had a
bandage over her eyes, and was then made to believe that M. Deslon came
in and commenced magnetizing her, although he never entered the room.
In three minutes the woman began to shiver. She felt, in succession, a
pain in her head, and a pricking in her hands. She became stiff, struck
her hands together, got up, stamped, &c., but nothing had been done to
her. The woman in the adjoining chamber was requested to take her seat
by the door, which was shut, with her sight at liberty. She was then
made to believe that M. Deslon would magnetize the door on the opposite
side, while the commissioners would wait to witness the result. She had
scarcely been seated a minute before she began to shiver. Her breathing
became hurried; she stretched out her arms behind her back, writhing
them strongly, and bending her body forwards; a general tremor of the
whole body came on. The chattering of the teeth was so loud as to be
heard out of the room; and she bit her hand so as to leave the marks of
her teeth in it; but M. Deslon was not near the door, nor in either
chamber, nor was either of the women touched, not even their pulse
examined. We perceive, then, that these effects were produced solely by
the imagination, and the above facts exhibit very satisfactorily the
power which the mind has over the body. The symptoms were not feigned,
but, in the peculiar state of mind of these persons, they were
involuntary and irresistible. They believed they should be effected in
this manner; the idea was formed in their imaginations, and the nerves
were acted upon precisely as though what they conceived was real, and
the muscular effects followed. And as the patients themselves could not
explain the causes of these effects, they very naturally attributed the
whole to magnetism. When the commissioners explained the matter,
magnetism ceased to produce these wonderful effects. The minds of
persons were enlightened upon the subject, and they no longer expected
to be influenced in this manner, and accordingly they were not.

Dr. Sigault, an eminent physician of Paris, professed to be an adept in
the art of Mesmer. Being at a great assembly one day, he caused it to
be announced that he could magnetize. The voice and serious air he
assumed had a very sensible effect upon a lady present, although she
endeavored at first to conceal the fact. But having carried his hand to
the region of the heart, he found it palpitating. She soon experienced
difficulty in respiration. The muscles of her face were affected with
convulsive twitches; her eyes rolled; she shortly fell down in a
fainting fit, vomited her dinner, and experienced incredible weakness
and languor. This seemed to corroborate the remarks of Burton, in his
_Anatomy of Melancholy_, where he says, "If, by some soothsayer,
wise man, fortune teller, or physician, men be told they shall have
such a disease, they will so seriously apprehend it that they will
instantly labor of it--a thing familiar in China, (saith Riccius, the
Jesuit.) If they be told they shall be sick on such a day, when that
day comes they will surely be sick, and will be so terribly affected
that sometimes they die upon it."

A late English paper states that a young woman, named Winfield, who had
been on a visit to Derby, returned home to Radborn, taking a little dog
with her by a string. On arriving there, she informed her friends she
had seen a gypsy on the road, who told her, that if she led her dog by
the string into the house, she would soon be a corpse. Singular to
relate, the young woman expired on the following morning! It was
thought she died from the effect of imagination, aided by a debilitated
constitution.

A missionary among the New Zealanders says, "There is a class of people
in New Zealand, called by the natives _Areekee_, and whom we very
improperly call _Priests_. These men pretend to have intercourse with
departed spirits, by which they are able to kill, by incantation, any
person on whom their anger may fall. And it is a fact, that numbers
fall a prey to their confidence in the efficacy of the curses of these
men, and pine under the influence of despair, and die."

In less than fifteen years after the trial of the pretensions of Mesmer
and his coadjutors, in regard to magnetism, there was originated in
America, by a Mr. Perkins, a cause of delusion of precisely the same
nature. It prevailed in all the United States, in Great Britain,
Scotland, and Ireland, and to considerable extent on the continent of
Europe. Mr. Perkins prepared two small pieces of different kinds of
metal drew them to a point, and polished them. These _Metallic
Tractors_, as they were denominated, were said to have, in their joint
operation, great power over the electric fluid; and by moving these
points gently over the surface of an inflamed part, the heat was
extracted, the swelling subsided, and, in a short time, the patient was
relieved. After a while, thousands and tens of thousands were ready to
certify to the happy influence of these _Tractors_. Mr. Perkins went
to England and obtained the royal letters patent, for the purpose of
securing to him the advantages of his discovery; and it has been
asserted by the best authority, that he returned from England possessed
of ten thousand pounds sterling, which he received for the use of his
Tractors.

But Dr. Haggarth, an eminent physician and philosopher, recollecting
the development of animal magnetism at Paris, wrote to Dr. Falconer,
surgeon of the General Hospital at Bath, (England,) and stated his
suspicion concerning the Tractors; that their efficacy depended wholly
on the imagination of the patient; and recommended the experiment of
_wooden_ Tractors in the place of the _metallic_.

Accordingly, five persons were selected for the experiment, who were
laboring under chronic rheumatism in the ankle, knee, wrist, and hip.
Wooden Tractors were prepared and painted in such a manner that the
patients could not discover but that they were metal; and on the 7th of
January, 1799, these _wooden_ Tractors were employed for the first
time. All the patients except one, were relieved. Three were very much
benefited. One felt his knee warmer, and he could walk much better, as
he showed the medical gentlemen present. One was easier for nine hours,
till he went to bed, and then his pain returned. The next day, January
8th, the metallic Tractors were employed with the same effect as that
of the preceding day. This led to further experiments of a similar
kind, and they were continued, until the physicians became fully
satisfied that the wooden Tractors were of the same utility with the
metallic, provided the patients _supposed_ them metallic. Similar
experiments were soon after made at Edinburgh, and the result was the
same. A servant girl, afflicted with a most acute headache, which had
rendered her nights altogether restless for a fortnight, readily
submitted to be pointed at with these _wooden_ Tractors. The operator
moved them about her head, but did not touch her. In four minutes she
felt a chilliness in the head. In a minute or two more, she felt as
though cold water was running down her temples, and the pain was
diminished. In ten minutes more, she declared that the headache was
entirely gone; and the next day she returned to express her thanks to
her benefactors for the good sleep she enjoyed through the night. By
similar experiments, the intelligent citizens in America soon
ascertained the true cause of the deception, and when these facts came
to be developed, the Tractors lost all their influence on the human
system, and have since been spoken of only in derision.

Here, again, we behold the astonishing power of the imagination over
the human system, and witness the miracles that have been performed on
the ignorant and unsuspecting. Even in the _modern_ practice of the
mesmeric art, a great deal of the success depends upon this tendency of
the mind. A very respectable operator assures us, that he cannot
magnetize persons unless he can first impress them with the belief that
they are actually to become magnetized. They must have _faith_ in order
that the effect may be produced. A public lecturer may hang up his
watch before his auditors, and tell them to look upon that watch, and
they will become magnetized. Those who expect to be affected are thrown
into the magnetic state. Those who have little faith and expectation
are seldom, if ever, influenced by such experiments. We, however, do
not mean to avow a disbelief in the science of magnetism. On the
contrary, we look forward with much interest to its perfection,
unencumbered with the false pretensions of its zealous and mistaken
friends.




CHAPTER V.

IGNORANCE OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY.


Ignorance of mental philosophy has given rise to many superstitions.
Many persons have believed in the real, visible appearance of ghosts,
spirits, or apparitions. Yet these things are clearly and
satisfactorily explained on the established principles of mental
philosophy. And from this source we learn that they exist alone in
the _mind_, in the same manner as do other ideas and images, except
in the instances recorded in Scripture. They are caused by some
misconception, mental operation, or bodily disorder. We will give a
few examples to substantiate this position.

Dr. Ferriar relates the case of a gentleman travelling in the Highlands
of Scotland, who was conducted to a bed room which was reported to be
haunted by the spirit of a man who had there committed suicide. In the
night, he awoke under the influence of a frightful dream, and found
himself sitting up in bed with a pistol grasped in his right hand. On
looking around the room, he now discovered, by the moonlight, a corpse,
dressed in a shroud, reared against the wall, close by the window, the
features of the body and every part of the funeral apparel being
distinctly perceived. On recovering from the first impulse of terror,
so far as to investigate the source of the phantom, it was found to be
produced by the moonbeams forming a long, bright image through the
broken window.

"Two esteemed friends of mine," says Dr. Abercrombie, "while travelling
in the Highlands, had occasion to sleep in separate beds, in one
apartment. One of them, having awoke in the night, saw, by the
moonlight, a skeleton hanging from the head of his friend's bed, every
part of it being perceived in the most distinct manner. He got up to
investigate the source of the appearance, and found it to be produced
by the moonbeams falling back upon the drapery of the bed, which had
been thrown back in some unusual manner, on account of the heat of the
weather. He returned to bed, and soon fell asleep. But having awoke
again some time after, the skeleton was so distinctly before him, that
he could not sleep without again getting up to trace the origin of the
phantom. Determined not to be disturbed a third time, he now brought
down the curtain to its usual state, and the skeleton appeared no
more."

Dr. Dewar relates the case of a lady who was quite blind, and who never
walked out without seeing a little old woman, with a crutch and a red
cloak, apparently walking before her. She had no illusion when within
doors. Dr. Gregory once took passage in a vessel to a neighboring
country, to visit a lady who was in an advanced stage of consumption.
On his return, he had taken a moderate dose of laudanum, with the view
of preventing seasickness, and was lying on a couch, in the cabin, when
the figure of a lady appeared before him in so distinct a manner, that
her actual presence could not have been more vivid. He was quite awake,
and fully sensible that it was a phantom produced by the opiate, in
connection with his intense mental feeling; but he was unable by any
effort to banish the vision.

A gentleman, mentioned by Dr. Conolly, when in great danger of being
wrecked in a boat, on the Eddystone rocks, said he actually saw his
family at the moment. In similar circumstances of great danger, others
have described the history of their past lives, being represented to
them in such a vivid manner, that, at a single glance, the whole was
before them, without the power of banishing the impression. We have
read the account of a whole ship's company being thrown into the utmost
consternation by the apparition of a cook, who had died a few days
before. He was distinctly seen walking ahead of the ship, with a
peculiar gait, by which he was distinguished when alive, from having
one leg shorter than the other. On steering the ship towards the
object, it was found to be a piece of floating wreck!

There is a story on record, of a piratical cruiser having captured a
Spanish vessel, during the seventeenth century, and brought her into
Marblehead harbor, which was then the site of a few humble dwellings.
The male inhabitants were all absent on their fishing voyages. The
pirates brought their prisoners ashore, carried them at the dead of
night into a solitary glen, and there murdered them. Among the captives
was an English female passenger. The women who belonged to the place
heard her dying outcries, as they rose through the midnight air, and
reverberated far and wide along the silent shores. She was heard to
exclaim, "O, mercy, mercy! Lord Jesus Christ, save me! save me!" Her
body was buried by the pirates on the spot. The same piercing voice is
believed to be heard at intervals, more or less often, almost every
year, in the stillness of a calm starlight, or clear moonlight night.
There is something, it is said, so wild, mysterious, and evidently
superhuman in the sound, as to strike a chill of dread into the hearts
of all who listen to it. A writer in the Marblehead Register, of April
3, 1830, declares that "there are not persons wanting at the present
day, persons of unimpeachable veracity and known respectability, who
still continue to believe the tradition, and to assert that they
themselves have been auditors of the sounds described, which they
declare were of such an unearthly nature as to preclude the idea of
imposition or deception." When "the silver moon holds her way," or when
the stars are glistening in the clear, cold sky, and the dark forms of
the moored vessels are at rest upon the sleeping bosom of the
harbor,--when no natural sound comes forth from the animate or
inanimate creation but the dull and melancholy note of the winding
shore, how often, at midnight, is the watcher startled from the
reveries of an excited imagination by the piteous, dismal, and terrific
screams of the unlaid _ghost_ of the murdered lady!

Erroneous impressions are often connected with some bodily disease,
more especially disease in the brain. Dr. Gregory mentions the case of
a gentleman liable to epileptic fits, in whom the paroxysm was
generally preceded by the appearance of an old woman in a red cloak,
who seemed to come up to him, and strike him on the head with her
crutch. At that instant he fell down in the fit. Another is mentioned
by Dr. Alderston, of a man who kept a dram shop, and who would often
see a soldier endeavoring to force himself into his house in a menacing
manner; and in rushing forward to prevent him, would find it a mere
phantom. This man was cured by bleeding and purgatives; and the source
of this vision was traced to a quarrel which he had had some time
before with a drunken soldier. In _delirium tremens_ such visions
are common, and assume a variety of forms.

Similar phantasms occur in various forms in febrile diseases. A lady
was attended by Dr. Abercrombie, having an affection of the chest. She
awoke her husband one night, at the commencement of her disorder, and
begged him to get up instantly, saying that she had distinctly seen a
man enter the apartment, pass the foot of her bed, and go into a closet
that entered from the opposite side of the room. She was quite awake,
and fully convinced of the reality of the appearance. But, upon
examining the closet, it was found to be a delusion, although it was
almost impossible to convince the lady it was not a reality.

A writer in the Christian Observer mentions a lady, who, during a
severe illness, repeatedly saw her father, who resided at the distance
of many hundred miles, come to her bedside, withdraw the curtain, and
talk to her in his usual voice and manner. A farmer, mentioned by the
same writer, on returning from market, was deeply affected by an
extraordinarily brilliant light, which he saw upon the road, and by an
appearance in the light, which he supposed to be our Savior. He was
greatly alarmed, and, spurring his horse, galloped home; remained
agitated during the evening; was seized with typhus fever, then
prevailing in the vicinity, and died in about ten days. It was
afterwards ascertained, that on the morning of the same day, before he
left home, he had complained of headache and languor; and there can be
no doubt, says this writer, that the spectral appearance was connected
with the commencement of the fever.

Analogous to this is the very striking case related by a physician, of
a relative of his, a lady about fifty. On returning home one evening
from a party, she went into a dark room to lay aside some part of her
dress, when she saw distinctly before her the figure of death, as a
skeleton, with his arm uplifted, and a dart in his hand. He instantly
aimed a blow at her with the dart, which seemed to strike her on the
left side. The same night she was seized with a fever, accompanied with
symptoms of inflammation in the left side, but recovered after a severe
illness.

We have read the account of a lady who had an illusion affecting both
her sight and hearing. She repeatedly heard her husband's voice calling
to her by name, as if from an adjoining room. On one occasion, she saw
his figure most distinctly, standing before the fire in the drawing
room, when he had left the house half an hour before. She went and sat
down within two feet of the figure, supposing it to be her husband, and
was greatly astonished that he did not answer her when she spoke to
him. The figure continued visible several minutes, then moved towards a
window at the farther end of the room, and there disappeared. On
another occasion, while adjusting her hair before a mirror, late at
night, she saw the countenance of a friend, dressed in a shroud,
reflected from the mirror, as if looking over her shoulder. This lady
had been for some time in bad health, being affected with a lung
complaint, and much nervous debility.

Another case of an illusion of hearing is reported of a clergyman, who
was accustomed to full living, and was suddenly seized with vomiting,
vertigo, and ringing in his ears, and continued in an alarming
condition for several days. During this time he heard tunes most
distinctly played, and in accurate succession. This patient had, at the
same time, a remarkable condition of vision, all objects appearing to
him inverted. This peculiarity continued about three days, and ceased
gradually; the objects by degrees changing their position, first to the
horizontal, and then to the erect.

Some profess to have visions or sights relative to the world of
spirits. This was the case with Swedenborg. He relates some of them in
the following language: "I dined very late at my lodgings at London,
and ate with great appetite, till, at the close of my repast, I
perceived a kind of mist about my eyes, and the floor of my chamber was
covered with hideous reptiles. They soon disappeared, the darkness was
dissipated, and I saw clearly, in the midst of a brilliant light, a man
seated in the corner of my chamber, who said to me, in a terrible
voice, _Eat not so much_. At these words, my sight became obscured;
afterwards it became clear by degrees, and I found myself alone. The
night following, the same man, radiant with light, appeared to me, and
said, I am God the Lord, Creator and Redeemer. I have chosen you to
unfold to men the internal and spiritual sense of the sacred writings,
and will dictate to you what you ought to write. At that time, I was
not terrified, and the light, although very brilliant, made no
unpleasant impression upon my eyes. The Lord was clothed in purple, and
the vision lasted a quarter of an hour. The same night, the eyes of my
internal man were opened, and fitted to see things in heaven, in the
world of spirits, and in hell; in which places I have found many
persons of my acquaintance, some of them long since dead, and others
lately deceased." In another place, he observes, "I have conversed with
apostles, departed popes, emperors, and kings; with the late reformers
of the church, Luther, Calvin, and Melancthon, and with others from
different countries." In conversing with Melancthon, he wished to know
his state in the spirit world, but Melancthon did not see fit to inform
him; "wherefore," says Swedenborg, "I was instructed by others
concerning his lot, viz., that he is sometimes in an excavated stone
chamber, and at other times in hell; and that when in the chamber, he
appears to be clothed in a bear's skin by reason of the cold; and that
on account of the filth in his chamber, he does not admit strangers
from the world, who are desirous of visiting him from the reputation of
his name."

The apparitions of Swedenborg were probably caused by his studies,
habits, and pursuits. They bear the marks of earthly origin, although
he firmly believed they were from heaven. Overloading his stomach at
late meals, no doubt, caused some of them. He was in the habit of
_eating too much_, as he himself admits. Hence his brain may have
been disturbed. We have all heard of the case of an elderly lady, who,
being ill, called upon her physician one day for advice. She told him,
among other things, that on the preceding night her sleep had been
disturbed--that she had seen her grandmother in her dreams. Being
interrogated whether she ate any thing the preceding evening, she told
the doctor she ate half a mince pie just before going to bed. "Well,
madam," said he, "if you had eaten the other half, you might have seen
your grandfather also."

The slightest examination of the accounts which remain of occurrences
that were deemed supernatural by our ancestors will satisfy any one, at
the present day, that they were brought about by causes entirely
_natural_, although unknown to them. We will close this part of
our investigation by relating the following circumstances, attested by
the Rev. James Pierpont, pastor of a church in New Haven:--

"In the year 1647, a new ship of about one hundred and fifty tons,
containing a valuable cargo, and several distinguished persons as
passengers, put to sea from New Haven in the month of January, bound to
England. The vessels that came over the ensuing spring brought no
tidings of her arrival in the mother country. The pious colonists were
earnest and instant in their prayers that intelligence might be
received of the missing vessel. In the course of the following June, a
great thunder storm arose out of the north-west; after which, (the
hemisphere being serene,) about an hour before sunset, a ship of like
dimensions of the aforesaid, with her canvas and colors abroad,
(although the wind was northerly,) appeared in the air, coming up from
the harbor's mouth, which lies southward from the town, seemingly with
her sails filled, under a fresh gale, holding her course north, and
continuing under observation, sailing against the wind, for the space
of half an hour. The phantom ship was borne along, until, to the
excited imaginations of the spectators, she seemed to have approached
so near that they could throw a stone into her. Her main topmast then
disappeared, then her mizzen topmast, then her masts were entirely
carried away, and finally her hull fell off, and vanished from sight,
leaving a dull and smoke-colored cloud, which soon dissolved, and the
whole atmosphere became clear. All affirmed that the airy vision was a
precise copy of the missing vessel, and that it was sent to announce
and describe her fate. They considered it the spectre of the lost ship,
and the Rev. Mr. Davenport declared in public 'that God had
condescended, for the quieting of their afflicted spirits, this
extraordinary account of his sovereign disposal of those for whom so
many fervent prayers were made continually.'"

The results of modern science enable us to explain the mysterious
appearance. It is probable that some Dutch vessel, proceeding slowly,
quietly, and unconsciously on her voyage from Amsterdam to the New
Netherlands, happened at the time to be passing through the Sound. At
the moment the apparition was seen in the sky, she was so near, that
her image was painted or delineated to the eyes of the observers, on
the clouds, by the laws of optics, now generally well known, before her
actual outlines could be discerned by them on the horizon. As the sun
sunk behind the western hills, and his rays were gradually withdrawn,
the visionary ship slowly disappeared, and the approach of the night,
while it dispelled the vapors from the atmosphere, effectually
concealed the vessel as she continued her course along the Sound.

The optical illusions that present themselves, on the sea shore, by
which distant objects are raised to view, the opposite islands and
capes made to loom up, lifted above the line of the apparent
circumference of the earth, and thrown into every variety of shape
which the imagination can conceive, are among the most beautiful
phenomena of nature, and they impress the mind with the idea of
enchantment and mystery, more perhaps than any others. But they have
received a complete solution from modern discovery.

It should be observed that the optical principles that explain these
phenomena have recently afforded a foundation for the science, or
rather the _art_, of _nauscopy_. There are persons, it is said, in some
places in the Isle of France, whose calling and profession it is to
ascertain and predict the approach of vessels by their reflection in
the atmosphere and on the clouds, long before they are visible to the
eye or through the glass.

Our vision is at all times liable to be disturbed by atmospheric
conditions. So long as the atmosphere between our person and the object
we are looking at is of the same density, we may be said to see in a
straight line to the object. But if, by any cause, a portion of that
atmosphere is rendered less or more dense, the line of vision is bent,
or refracted, from its course. A thorough comprehension of this truth
in science has banished a mass of superstition. It has been found that,
by means of powerful refraction, objects at great distances, and round
the back of a hill, or considerably beneath the horizon, are brought
into sight. In some countries this phenomenon is called _mirage_. The
following is one of the most interesting and best-authenticated cases
of the kind. In a voyage performed by Captain Scoresby, in 1822, he was
able to recognize his father's ship, when below the horizon, from the
inverted image of it which appeared in the air. "It was," says he, "so
well defined, that I could distinguish, by a telescope, every sail, the
general rig of the ship, and its particular character, insomuch that I
confidently pronounced it to be my father's ship, the Fame,--which it
afterwards proved to be--though on comparing notes with my father, I
found that our relative position, at the time, gave our distance from
one another very nearly thirty miles, being about seventeen miles
beyond the horizon, and some leagues beyond the limit of direct
vision!"

Dr. Vince, an English philosopher, was once looking through a telescope
at a ship which was so far off that he could only see the upper part of
the masts. The hull was entirely hidden by the bending of the water;
but, between himself and the ship, he saw two perfect images of it in
the air. These were of the same form and color as the real ship; but
one of them was turned completely upside down.

In the sandy plains of Egypt, the mirage is seen to great advantage.
These plains are often interrupted by small eminences, upon which the
inhabitants have built their villages in order to escape the
inundations of the Nile. In the morning and evening, objects are seen
in their natural form and position; but when the surface of the sandy
ground is heated by the sun, the land seems terminated, at a particular
distance, by a general inundation; the villages which are beyond it
appear like so many islands in a great lake; and an inverted image of a
village appears between the hills.

The Swedish sailors long searched for a supposed magic island, which,
from time to time, could be descried between the Island of Aland and
the coast of Upland. It proved to be a rock, the image of which was
presented in the air by mirage. At one time, the English saw, with
terror, the coast of Calais and Boulogne, in France, rising up on the
opposite side of the Channel, and apparently approaching their island.
But the most celebrated example of mirage is exhibited in the Straits
of Messina. The inhabitants of the Calabrian shore behold images of
palaces, embattled ramparts, houses, and ships, and all the varied
objects of towns and landscapes, in the air--being refracted images
from the Sicilian coast. This wonderful phenomenon is superstitiously
regarded by the common people as the work of fairies.




CHAPTER VI.

IGNORANCE OF TRUE RELIGION.


Ignorance of true religion has given rise to many prevailing
superstitions. The Savior has taught us that the Father of spirits
regulates the minutest events of this world, and that he alone is the
Supreme Ruler of the universe. Our experience and observation must
convince us that this infinite work is accomplished by regular laws,
and that Infinite Wisdom sees fit so to govern all events without the
intervention of miracles, or through the agency of any instrumentality
but his own. And by examination, we shall find that these truths are in
direct opposition to the general mass of popular superstitions.

There are many who believe in signs. They believe that the howling of a
dog under a window betokens death to some member of the family. But how
does the dog obtain this foreknowledge? Who sends him on this solemn
errand? If you say that his appearance at the house is accidental, then
you would have us trust to _chance_ for information upon this most
important subject. If you say that his knowledge of the approaching
event is intuitive, then you would have us believe that the irrational
brute knows more than his intelligent master. If you say that he is
instigated by some wicked spirit, then you would have us admit that an
enemy of mankind is more attentive to their welfare than God; for it
certainly betokens the greatest kindness to notify us of our near
dissolution. If you say the animal is sent by God, how will you explain
the fact that the sign so often fails? not actually taking place
oftener, at most, than once in a hundred times. Certainly we are not to
accuse the omniscient and merciful Jehovah either of ignorance
concerning future events, or of trifling with the feelings of his
dependent creatures. We must therefore consider the sign to be
altogether superstitious, and contrary to all rational evidence.

Some persons profess to believe in lucky and unlucky days. They say,
for instance, that Friday is an unlucky day. And why so? Does God part
with the reins of his government, and employ wicked spirits to torment
his creatures on this day? Does he make this day more unpropitious to
human affairs than others? Do facts go to show that more disasters
occur on this day than on any other? Paul instructs us that all days
are alike, and that God rules the universe with infinite wisdom and
benevolence. Then why should we account Friday to be an unlucky day?
Whence came such an opinion? From heathenism. The heathen were much
influenced by this superstition; and when converted to Christianity,
they incorporated this among some other absurdities into their
religious belief. Because our Savior was crucified on Friday, they
placed this at the head of their unlucky days. But why they did so, we
cannot conceive; for the death of Christ was absolutely necessary for
the deliverance of mankind from sin and death. And for this reason
alone, Friday was the most propitious day that ever dawned upon a dying
world. But the heathen converts did not consider this circumstance.
They pronounced Sunday, the day of his resurrection, to be the most
fortunate. Later Christians, in a certain sense, have thought
differently. Sir Matthew Hale has remarked, that he never knew any
undertaking to prosper that was commenced on the Sabbath. And the early
laws of Connecticut prohibited any vessel from either leaving a port,
or entering a port, or passing by a village on Sunday. But such
prohibitions are not agreeable to the notions of seamen, who, as a
class, are inclined to be somewhat superstitious. We frequently meet
with dissipated, unbelieving sailors, who could not be induced to put
to sea on Friday on any consideration; but who would rather labor seven
successive nights than not sail on the Sabbath. It is rather singular
that sceptics should be so afraid of the day of our Savior's
crucifixion, and so fond of that of his resurrection. Such
inconsistency, however, is not uncommon. Those who rail most at the
credulity of others are frequently the most superstitious. Those who
lay the greatest claims to bravery are, for the most part, the greatest
cowards. Voltaire could ridicule religion in fair weather, but the
moment a thunder cloud appeared, he was thrown into extreme
consternation, and must have a priest to pray during its continuance
for his preservation. If we would avoid the influence of this heathen
superstition, we must regard _actions_ rather than _days_. If our
engagements are _proper_, we have nothing to fear from the day on which
they are commenced. If we feel the evidence within that God is indeed
_our_ Father, we shall not be prevented, by any belief in lucky or
unlucky days, from doing our duty on every day, and enjoying peace and
happiness on all days.




CHAPTER VII.

BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT.


A witch was regarded by our fathers as a person who had made an actual,
deliberate, and formal contract with Satan, by which contract it was
agreed that the party should become his faithful subject, and do
whatever should be required in promoting his cause. And in
consideration of this allegiance and service, he, on his part, agreed
to exercise his supernatural powers in the person's behalf. It was
considered as a transfer of allegiance from God to the devil. The
agreement being concluded, Satan bestows some trifling sum of money to
bind the bargain; then, cutting or pricking a finger causes the
individual to sign his or her name, or make the mark of a cross, with
their own blood, on a piece of parchment. In addition to this
signature, in some places, the devil made the witches put one hand to
the crown of their head, and the other to the sole of the foot,
signifying they were entirely his. Before the devil quits his new
subject, he delivers to her or him an imp or familiar, and sometimes
two or three. They are of different shapes and forms, some resembling a
cat, others a mole, a miller fly, spider, or some other insect or
animal. These are to come at bidding, to do such mischief as the witch
may command, and, at stated times of the day, suck the blood of the
witch, through teats, on different parts of the body. Feeding,
suckling, or rewarding these imps was, by law, declared _felony_.

Sometimes a witch, in company with others of the fraternity, is carried
through the air on brooms or spits, to distant meetings or Sabbaths of
witches. But for this they must anoint themselves with a certain
magical ointment given them by the devil. Lord Bacon, in his
philosophical works, gives a recipe for the manufacture of an ointment
that enabled witches to fly in the air. It was composed of the fat of
children, digged out of their graves, and of the juices of smaltage,
cinquefoil, and wolfsbane, mixed with meal of fine wheat. After
greasing themselves with this preparation, the witches flew up chimney,
and repaired to the spot in some graveyard or dismal forest, where they
were to hold their meetings with the evil one. At these meetings they
have feasting and dancing, the devil himself sometimes condescending to
play on the great fiddle, pipe, or harp. When the meeting breaks up,
they all have the honor of kissing his majesty, who for that ceremony
usually assumes the form of a he goat.

Witches showed their spite by causing the object of it to waste away in
a long and painful disease, with a sensation of thorns stuck in the
flesh. Sometimes they caused their victims to swallow pins, old nails,
dirt, and trash of all sorts, invisibly conveyed to them by their imps.
Frequently they showed their hate by drying up the milk of cows, or by
killing oxen. For slight offences they would prevent butter from coming
in the churn, or beer from working. Grace Greenwood says, that, on a
visit to Salem in the fall of 1850, she "was shown a vial of the
veritable bewitched pins with which divers persons were sorely pricked
by the wicked spite of certain witches and wizards."

It was believed that Satan affixed his mark or seal to the bodies of
those in allegiance with him, and that the spot where this mark was
made became callous and dead. In examining a witch upon trial, they
would pierce the body with pins, and if any spot was found insensible
to the torture, it was looked upon as ocular demonstration of guilt.
Another method to detect a witch, was to weigh her against the church
Bible. If she was guilty, the Bible would preponderate. Another was by
making her say the Lord's prayer, which no one actually possessed could
do correctly. A witch could not weep but three tears, and that only out
of the left eye; and this was considered by many an decisive proof of
guilt. But swimming was the most infallible ordeal. They were stripped
naked, and bound the right thumb to the left toe, and the left thumb to
the right toe. Being thus prepared, they were thrown into a pond or
river. If guilty, they could not sink; for having, by their compact
with the devil, renounced the water of baptism, that element renounces
them, and refuses to receive them into its bosom.

In 1664, a man by the name of Matthew Hopkins, in England, was
permitted to explore the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Huntingdon,
with a commission to discover witches, receiving twenty shillings from
each town he visited. Many persons were pitched upon, and through his
means convicted. At length, some gentlemen, out of indignation at his
barbarity, tied him in the same manner he had bound others, thumbs and
toes together, in which state, putting him in the water, he swam!
Standing condemned on his own principles, the country was rescued from
the power of his malicious imposition.

The subsequent illustration of the condition of religion less than two
hundred years ago will excite a few humbling thoughts. In the parish
register of Glammis, Scotland, June, 1676, is recorded--"Nae preaching
here this Lord's day, the minister being at Gortachy, burning a witch."
Forty thousand persons, it is said, were put to death for witchcraft in
England during the seventeenth century, and a much greater number in
Scotland, in proportion to its population.

In 1692, the whole population of Salem and vicinity were under the
influence of a terrible delusion concerning witchcraft. By yielding to
the sway of their credulous fancies, allowing their passions to be
worked up to a tremendous pitch of excitement, and running into
excesses of folly and violence, they have left a dark stain upon their
memory, that will awaken a sense of shame, pity, and amazement in the
minds of their latest posterity. The principal causes that led to their
delusion, and to the proceedings connected with it, were, a proneness
to superstition, owing in a great degree to an ignorance of natural
science, too great a dependence upon the imagination, and the power of
sympathy. In contemplating the errors and sufferings which ignorance of
philosophy and science brought upon our fathers, we should be led to
appreciate more gratefully, and to improve with more faithfulness, our
own opportunities to acquire wisdom and knowledge. But we would not be
understood as saying, that mere intellectual cultivation is sufficient
to banish every superstition. No. For who were ever better educated
than the ancient Greeks and Romans? And yet, who were ever more
influenced by a belief in signs, omens, spectres, and witches? We
believe that, when the gospel, in its purity and simplicity, shall shed
its divine light abroad, and pervade the hearts of men, superstition,
in all its dark and hideous forms, will recede, and vanish from the
world.

In concluding our remarks under this head, we would add that, in a
dictionary before us, a witch is designated as a woman, and _wizard_ as
a man, that pretends to some power whereby he or she can foretell
future events, cure diseases, call up or drive away spirits. The art
itself is called _witchcraft_. If this is a correct definition, witches
and wizards are quite a numerous class of people in society at the
present day; for there are many among us who presume to practise these
things.




CHAPTER VIII.

NECROMANCY AND FORTUNE TELLING.


Although the belief in witchcraft has nearly passed away, the civilized
world is yet full of necromancers and fortune tellers. The mystic
science of "palmistry" is still practised by many a haggard and
muttering vagrant.

The most celebrated fortune teller, perhaps, that ever lived, resided
in Lynn, Mass. The character of "Moll Pitcher" is familiarly known in
all parts of the commercial world. She died in 1813. Her place of abode
was beneath the projecting and elevated summit of High Rock, in Lynn,
and commanded a view of the wild and indented coast of Marblehead, of
the extended and resounding beaches of Lynn and Chelsea, of Nahant
Rocks, of the vessels and islands, of Boston's beautiful bay, and of
its remote southern shore. She derived her mysterious gifts by
inheritance, her grandfather having practised them before, in
Marblehead. Sailors, merchants, and adventurers of every kind visited
her residence, and placed great confidence in her predictions. People
came from great distances to learn the fate of missing friends or
recover the possession of lost goods. The young, of both sexes,
impatient at the tardy pace of time, and burning with curiosity to
discern their future lot, especially as it regarded matters of wedlock,
availed themselves of every opportunity to visit her lowly dwelling,
and hear from her prophetic lips the revelations of these most tender
incidents and important events of their coming lives. She read the
future, and traced what, to mere mortal eyes, were the mysteries of the
present or the past, in the arrangement and aspect of the grounds or
settlings of a cup of tea or coffee. Her name has every where become
the generic title of fortune tellers, and occupies a conspicuous place
in the legends and ballads of popular superstition.

A man was suddenly missed by his friends from a certain town in this
commonwealth. The church immediately sent a member to consult the
far-famed fortune-telling Molly Pitcher. After making the necessary
inquiries, she intimated that the absent person had been murdered by a
family of negroes, and his body sunk in the deep waters behind their
dwelling. Upon this evidence, the accused were forthwith imprisoned,
and the pond raked in vain, from shore to shore. A few days previous to
the trial, the missing man returned to his friends, safe and sound;
thus proving that the fortune teller, instead of having received from
Satan certain information of distant and unknown events, actually
played off a piece of the grossest deception upon her credulous
visitors.

We are told by travellers that there is scarcely a village in Syria in
which there is not some one who has the credit of being able to cast
out evil spirits. About eight miles from the ancient Sidon, Lady Hester
Stanhope, the granddaughter of the immortal Chatham, and niece of the
equally immortal Pitt, recently lived in a style of Eastern splendor
and magnificence. She spent her time in gazing at the extended canopy
of heaven, as it shed its sparkling light upon the ancient hills and
sacred groves of Palestine--her soul absorbed in the fathomless
mysteries of her loved astrology, and holding fancied communion with
supernatural powers and spirits of the departed.

There recently died in Hopkinton, Mass., an individual by the name of
Sheffield, who had long followed the art of fortune telling by
astrology. He professed to unfold almost every secret, or mystery, even
to foretelling the precise day and hour any person would die. In case
of lost or stolen goods, it was only necessary to enclose a small fee
in a letter, containing also a statement of your name, age, and place
of residence, and forward the same by mail to his address. In two or
three weeks, the information you sought, as to the person who stole the
property, &c., would be forwarded to you, leaving you to judge of the
case for yourself. He did quite a business in his line, and made
something of a fortune out of a long-exploded science.

There are many who trust to the declarations of such persons, and are
often made unhappy thereby. In fact, it is doubtful if a more unhappy
class can be found than those who are in the habit of consulting
fortune tellers of any character. It is _discontent_, chiefly,
that leads them to pry into futurity. And after having had their
_fortunes told_, as it is termed, they are no better satisfied
than before; for the best of fortune tellers are famous for their
errors and mistakes, although it would be strange if they did not
blunder upon some facts in the whole routine of their business. But we
pity those who rely upon their prognostications. If told they will die
at such or such a time, or if they are to meet with some dreadful
accident, misfortune, or disappointment, their imaginations will lead
them to anticipate and dread the event, which will be the surest way to
produce its fulfilment. If a husband or wife is told that he or she
will marry again, it will lead them to be dissatisfied with the partner
with whom they are at present associated. And look at this subject as
we will, we shall find it productive of a vast amount of evil, and
therefore deserving of our entire disapprobation.




CHAPTER IX.

FAIRIES, OR WANDERING SPIRITS.


Fairies, says a certain author, are a sort of intermediate beings,
between men and women, having bodies, yet with the power of rendering
them _invisible_, and of passing through all sorts of enclosures. They
are remarkably small of stature, with fair complexions, whence they
derive their name, _fairies_. Both male and female are generally
clothed in green, and frequent mountains, the sunny side of hills,
groves, and green meadows, where they amuse themselves with dancing,
hand in hand, in a circle, by moonlight. The traces of their feet are
said to be visible, next morning, on the grass, and are commonly called
_fairy rings_, or _circles_.

Fairies have all the passions and wants of men, and are great lovers of
cleanliness and propriety; for the observance of which, they frequently
reward servants, by dropping money in their shoes. They likewise punish
sluts and slovens by pinching them black and blue. They often change
their weak and starveling elves, or children, for the more robust
offspring of men. But this can only be done before baptism; for which
reason it is still the custom, in the Highlands, to watch by the cradle
of infants till they are christened. The word _changeling_, now
applied to one almost an idiot, attests the current belief of these
superstitious mutations.

Some fairies dwell in mines, and in Wales nothing is more common than
these subterranean spirits, called _knockers_, who very good naturedly
point out where there is a rich vein of lead or silver. In Scotland
there was a sort of domestic fairies, from their sun-burnt complexions,
called _brownies_. These were extremely useful, performing all sorts of
domestic drudgery.

In the Life of Dr. Adam Clarke, we have the following account of a
circumstance that took place in the town of Freshford, county of
Kilkenny, Ireland, showing the superstition prevailing in that country
concerning the influence of these fairy beings: "A farmer built himself
a house of three apartments, the kitchen in the middle, and a room for
sleeping, &c., on either end. Some time after it was finished, a cow of
his died--then a horse; to these succeeded other smaller animals, and
last of all his _wife_ died. Full of alarm and distress, supposing
himself to be an object of _fairy indignation_, he went to the
_fairy man_, that is, one who pretends to know _fairy_ customs, haunts,
pathways, antipathies, caprices, benevolences, &c., and he asked his
advice and counsel on the subject of his losses. The wise man, after
having considered all things, and cast his eye upon the house, said,
'The fairies, in their night walks from _Knockshegowny_ Hill, in county
_Tipperary_, to the county of _Kilkenny_, were accustomed to pass over
the very spot where one of your rooms is now built; you have blocked up
their way, and they were very angry with you, and have slain your
cattle, and killed your wife, and, if not appeased, may yet do worse
harm to you.' The poor fellow, sadly alarmed, went, and with his own
hands, deliberately pulled down the timbers, demolished the walls, and
left not one stone upon another, but razed the very foundation, and
left the path of these capricious gentry as open and as clear as it was
before. How strong must have been this man's belief in the existence of
these demi-natural and semi-supernatural beings, to have induced him
thus to destroy the work of his own hands!"

In Spenser's epic poem, called the Fairy Queen, the imagination of the
reader is entertained with the characters of fairies, witches,
magicians, demons, and departed spirits. A kind of pleasing horror is
raised in the mind, and one is amused with the strangeness and novelty
of the persons who are represented in it; but to be affected by such
poetry requires an odd turn of thought, a peculiar cast of fancy, with
an imagination naturally fruitful and superstitious.

The Gypsies are a class of strolling beggars, cheats, and fortune
tellers. They have been quite numerous in all the older countries, and
are so still in some of them; but in the United States there are but
few, some one or two tribes in the west, and a small party of them in
New York state. They are probably called Gypsies from the ancient
Egyptians, who had the character of great cheats, whence the name might
afterwards pass proverbially into other languages, as it did into the
Greek and Latin; or else the ancient Egyptians being much versed in
astronomy, or rather astrology, the name was afterwards assumed by
these modern fortune tellers. In Latin they are called _Egyptii_; the
Italians called them _Cinari_, or _Cingani_; the Russians, _Zigani_;
the Turks and Persians, _Zingarri_; the Germans, _Ziguenor_; the
Spaniards, _Gitános_; the French, _Bohemians_, from the circumstance
that Bohemia was the first civilized country where they made their
appearance.

In most countries they live in the woods and forests; but in England,
where every inch of land is cultivated, the covered cart and little
tent are their houses, and they seldom remain more than three days in
the same place.

Dabbling in sorcery is in some degree the province of the female Gypsy.
She affects to tell the future, and to prepare philters, by means of
which love can be awakened in any individual towards any particular
object; and such is the credulity of the human race, even in the most
enlightened countries, that the profits arising from these practices
are great. The following is a case in point: Two females, neighbors and
friends, were tried, some years since, for the murder of their
husbands. It appeared that they were in love for the same individual,
and had conjointly, at various times, paid sums of money to a Gypsy
woman to work charms to captivate his affections. Whatever little
effect the charms might produce, they were successful in their
principal object, for the person in question carried on for some time a
criminal intercourse with both. The matter came to the knowledge of the
husbands, who, taking means to break off this connection, were both
poisoned by their wives. Till the moment of conviction, these wretched
females betrayed neither emotion nor fear; but at this juncture their
consternation was indescribable. They afterwards confessed that the
Gypsy, who had visited them in prison, had promised to shield them from
conviction by means of her art. It is therefore not surprising that in
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when a belief in sorcery was
supported by the laws of all Europe, these people were regarded as
practisers of sorcery, and punished as such, when, even in the
nineteenth, they still find people weak enough to place confidence in
their claims to supernatural power.

In telling fortunes, the first demand of the Gypsy, in England, is
invariably a sixpence, in order that she may cross her hands with
silver; and here the same promises are made, and as easily believed, as
in other countries, leading to the conclusion that mental illumination,
amongst the generality of mankind, has made no progress whatever; as we
observe in the nineteenth century the same gross credulity manifested
as in the seventeenth, and the inhabitants of one of the countries most
celebrated for the arts of civilization imposed upon by the same stale
tricks which served to deceive, two centuries before, in Spain, a
country whose name has long and justly been considered as synonymous
with every species of ignorance and barbarity.

In telling fortunes, promises are the only capital requisite, and the
whole art consists in properly adapting these promises to the age and
condition of the parties who seek for information. The Gitános are
clever enough in the accomplishment of this, and generally give perfect
satisfaction. Their practice lies chiefly amongst females, the portion
of the human race most given to curiosity and credulity. To the young
maidens they promise lovers, handsome invariably, and oftentimes rich;
to wives, children, and perhaps another husband; for their eyes are so
penetrating, that occasionally they will develop your most secret
thoughts and wishes; to the old, riches, and nothing but riches--for
they have sufficient knowledge of the human heart to be aware that
avarice is the last passion that becomes extinct within it. These
riches are to proceed either from the discovery of hidden treasure, or
from across the water. The Gitános, in the exercise of this practice,
find dupes almost as readily amongst the superior classes, as the
veriest dregs of the population.

They are also expert in chiromancy, which is the determining, from
certain lines upon the hand, the quality of the physical and
intellectual powers of the possessor, to which lines they give
particular and appropriate names, the principal of which is called the
"line of life." An ancient writer, in speaking of this art, says, "Such
chiromancy is not only reprobated by theologians, but by men of law and
physic, as a foolish, vain, scandalous, futile, superstitious practice,
smelling much of divinery and a pact with the devil."

The Gitános in the olden time appear to have not unfrequently been
subjected to punishment as sorceresses, and with great justice, as the
abominable trade which they have always driven in philters and
decoctions certainly entitled them to that appellation, and to the
pains and penalties reserved for those who practised what is generally
termed "witchcraft."

Amongst the crimes laid to their charge, connected with the exercise of
occult powers, there is one of a purely imaginary character, which if
they were ever punished for, they had assuredly but little right to
complain, as the chastisement they met with was fully merited by
practices equally malefic as the one imputed to them, provided that
were possible. _It was the casting the evil eye._

In the Gitáno language, casting the evil eye is called _zuerelar
nasula_, which simply means making sick, and which, according to the
common superstition, is accomplished by casting an evil look at people,
especially children, who, from the tenderness of their constitution,
are supposed to be more easily blighted than those of a more mature
age. After receiving the evil glance, they fall sick, and die in a few
hours.

In Andalusia, a belief in the evil eye is very prevalent among the
lower orders. A stag's horn is considered a good safeguard, and on that
account, a small horn, tipped with silver, is frequently attached to
the children's necks, by means of a cord braided from the hair of a
black mare's tail. Should the evil glance be cast, it is imagined that
the horn receives it, and instantly snaps asunder. Such horns may be
purchased at the silversmiths' shops at Seville.

The Gypsies sell remedies for the evil eye, which consist of any drugs
which they happen to possess, or are acquainted with. They have been
known to offer to cure the glanders in a horse, (an incurable
disorder,) with the very same powders which they offer as a specific
for the evil eye.

The same superstition is current among all Oriental people, whether
Turks, Arabs, or Hindoos; but perhaps there is no nation in the world
with whom the belief is so firmly rooted as the Jews; it being a
subject treated of in all the old rabbinical writings, which induces
the conclusion that the superstition of the evil eye is of an antiquity
almost as remote as the origin of the Hebrew race.

The evil eye is mentioned in Scripture, but not in the false and
superstitious sense we have spoken of. Evil in the eye, which occurs in
Prov. xxiii. 5, 6, merely denotes niggardness and illiberality. The
Hebrew words are _ain ra_, and stand in contradistinction to _ain
toub_, or the benignant in eye, which denotes an inclination to bounty
and liberality.

The rabbins have said, "For one person who dies of sickness, there are
ten who die by the evil eye." And as the Jews, especially those of the
East, and of Barbary, place implicit confidence in all that the rabbins
have written, we can scarcely wonder if, at the present day, they dread
this visitation more than the cholera or the plague. "The leech," they
say, "can cure those disorders; but who is capable of curing the evil
eye?"

It is imagined that this blight is most easily inflicted when a person
is enjoying himself, with little or no care for the future, when he is
reclining in the sun before his door, or when he is full of health and
spirits, but principally when he is eating and drinking, on which
account the Jews and Moors are jealous of strangers when they are
taking their meals.

"I was acquainted," says a late writer, "with a very handsome Jewess,
of Fez; she had but one eye, but that one was particularly brilliant.
On asking her how she lost its fellow, she informed me that she was
once standing in the street, at nightfall, when she was a little girl;
a Moor, that was passing by, suddenly stopped, and said, 'Towac Ullah,
(blessed be God,) how beautiful are your eyes, my child!' Whereupon she
went into the house, but was presently seized with a dreadful pain in
the left eye, which continued during the night, and the next day the
pupil came out of the socket. She added, that she did not believe the
Moor had any intention of hurting her, as he gazed on her so kindly;
but that it was very thoughtless in him to utter words which are sure
to convey evil luck." It is said to be particularly dangerous to eat in
the presence of a woman; for the evil eye, if cast by a woman, is far
more fatal and difficult to cure than if cast by a man.

When any one falls sick of the evil eye, he must instantly call to his
assistance the man cunning in such cases. The man, on coming, takes
either a girdle or a handkerchief from off his own person, and ties a
knot at either end; then he measures three spans with his left hand,
and at the end of these three he fastens a knot, and folds it three
times round his head, pronouncing this _beraka_, or blessing: "_Ben
porat Josef, ben porat ali ain_," (Joseph is a fruitful bough, a
fruitful bough by a well;) he then recommences measuring the girdle or
handkerchief, and if he finds three spans and a half, instead of the
three which he formerly measured, he is enabled to tell the name of the
person who cast the evil eye, whether male or female.

The above very much resembles the charm of the Bible and key, by which
many persons in England still pretend to be able to discover the thief,
when an article is missed. A key is placed in a Bible, in the part
called Solomon's Song; the Bible and key are then fastened strongly
together, by means of a ribbon, which is wound round the Bible, and
passed several times through the handle of the key, which projects from
the top of the book. The diviner then causes the person robbed to name
the name of any person or persons whom he may suspect. The two parties,
the robbed and the diviner, then standing up, support the book between
them, the ends of the handle of the key resting on the tips of the fore
fingers of the right hand. The diviner then inquires of the Bible,
whether such a one committed the theft, and commences repeating the
sixth and seventh verses of the eighth chapter of the Song; and if the
Bible and key turn round in the mean time, the person named is
considered guilty. This charm has been, and still is, the source of
infinite mischief, innocent individuals having irretrievably lost their
character among their neighbors from recourse being had to the Bible
and key. The slightest motion of the finger, or rather of the nail,
will cause the key to revolve, so that the people named are quite at
the mercy of the diviner, who is generally a cheat, or professed
conjurer, and not unfrequently a Gypsy. In like manner, the Barbary
cunning man, by a slight contraction of his hand, measures three and a
half spans, where he first measured three, and then pretends to know
the person who has cast the evil eye, having, of course, first
ascertained the names of those with whom his patient has lately been in
company.

When the person who has cast the evil eye has been discovered, by means
of the magical process already described, the mother, or wife, or
sister of the sufferer walks forth, pronouncing the name of the latter
with a loud voice, and, making the best of her way to the house of the
person guilty, takes a little of the earth from before the door of his
or her sleeping apartment. Some of the saliva of the culprit is then
demanded, which must be given early in the morning, before breakfast;
then the mother, or the wife, or the sister goes to the oven, and takes
from thence seven burning coals, which are slaked in water from the
bath in which the women bathe. The four ingredients, earth, saliva,
coals, and water, are then mixed together in a dish, and the patient is
made to take three sips, and what remains is taken to a private place
and buried, the person who buries it making three paces backward,
exclaiming, "May the evil eye be buried beneath the earth." Many people
carry papers about with them, scrawled with hieroglyphics, which are
prepared by the hacumim, or sages, and sold. These papers, placed in a
little bag and hung about the person, are deemed infallible
preservatives from the "ain ara."

Like many other superstitions, the above may be founded on a physical
reality. In hot countries, where the sun and moon are particularly
dazzling, the belief in the evil eye is most prevalent. If we turn to
the Scripture, we shall probably come to the solution of the belief.
"The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." Ps. cxxi.
5, 6. To those who loiter in the sunshine, before the king of day has
nearly reached his bourn in the west, the sun has an evil eye, and his
glance produces brain fevers; and to those who sleep uncovered, beneath
the smile of the moon, her glance is poisonous, producing insupportable
itching in the eye and not unfrequently total blindness: all the
charms, scrawls, and rabbinical antidotes have no power to avert these
effects.

The northern nations have a superstition which bears some resemblance
to the evil eye. They have no brilliant sun and moon to addle the brain
and poison the eye, but the gray north has its marshes, and fenny
ground, and fetid mists, which produce agues, low fevers, and moping
madness, and are as fatal to cattle as to man. Such disorders are
attributed to elves and fairies. This superstition still lingers in
some parts of England, under the name of _elf-shot_, whilst, throughout
the north, it is called _elle-skiod_, and _elle-vild_, (fairy wild.) It
is particularly prevalent amongst shepherds and cowherds, who, from
their manner of life, are most exposed to the effects of the so called
elf-shot.

The Gitános had a venomous preparation called _drao_, or _drow_, which
they were in the habit of flinging into the mangers of the cattle, for
the purpose of causing sickness and death. It was the province of the
women to compound the ingredients of this poison, which answered many
wicked purposes. The stalls and stables were visited secretly, and the
provender of the animals being poisoned, they at once fell sick;
speedily there appeared the Gitános, offering their services on the
condition of no cure no pay, and when these were accepted, the malady
was speedily removed. They used no medicines, or pretended not to, but
charms only, which consisted of small variegated beans, called, in
their language, _bobis_, coming from a Russian word signifying _beans_.
These beans they dropped into the mangers, though they doubtless
administered privately a real and efficacious remedy. By these means
they fostered the idea, already prevalent, that they were people
possessed of supernatural gifts and powers. By means of drao, they
likewise procured themselves food; poisoning swine, as their brethren
in England still do, and then feasting on the flesh, the poison only
affecting the head of the animal, which was abandoned as worthless;
witness one of their own songs:--

    "By Gypsy drow the porker died;
    I saw him stiff at evening tide;
    But I saw him not when morning shone,
    For the Gypsies ate him, flesh and bone."

By drao, also, they could avenge themselves on their enemies by
destroying their cattle, without incurring a shadow of suspicion.
Revenge for injuries, real or imaginary, is sweet to all unconverted
minds--to no one more than the Gypsy, who, in all parts of the world,
is, perhaps, the most revengeful of human beings.

But if the Gitános are addicted to any one superstition above others,
it is in respect to the _loadstone_, to which they attribute all kinds
of miraculous powers. They believe that he who is in possession of it
has nothing to fear from steel or lead, from fire or water, and that
death itself has no power over him. The Gypsy contrabandists are
particularly anxious to procure this stone, which they carry upon their
persons in their expeditions. They say, that in the event of their
being pursued by the revenue officers, whirlwinds of dust will arise
and conceal them from the view of their enemies; the horse stealers say
much the same thing, and assert that they are uniformly successful when
they bear about them the precious stone. But it is said by them to
effect much more. It is extraordinary in exciting the amorous
propensities, and on this account it is in great request among the
Gypsy hags. All these women are procuresses, and find persons of both
sexes weak and wicked enough to make use of their pretended knowledge
in the composition of love draughts and decoctions.

In the Museum of Natural Curiosities at Madrid, there is a large piece
of loadstone, originally extracted from the American mines. There is
scarcely a Gitána in Madrid who is not acquainted with this
circumstance, and who does not long to obtain the stone, or a part of
it. Several attempts have been made to steal it, all of which, however,
have been unsuccessful.

A translation of the Gospel of St. Luke was printed in the Gypsy
language, at Madrid, in 1838. The chapters were read over and explained
to some of these strange people, by the late agent of the British and
Foreign Bible Society, in Spain. They said it was _lacho_, and _jucal_,
and _misto_, all of which words express approval of the quality of
a thing; and they purchased copies of the Gypsy Luke freely. The women
were particularly anxious to obtain copies, though unable to read; but
each wished to have one in her pocket, especially when engaged in
thieving expeditions, for they all looked upon it in the light of a
charm, which would preserve them from all danger and mischance; some
even went so far as to say, that in this respect it was equally as
efficacious as the Bar Lachi, or loadstone, which they are generally so
eager to possess. Of this Gospel, five hundred copies were printed, the
greatest part of which were circulated among the Gypsies; but it was
speedily prohibited by a royal ordinance, which appeared in the Gazette
of Madrid, in August, 1838.

Before closing, under this head, we will remark that, although the
Gypsies in general are a kind of wandering outcasts, incapable of
appreciating the blessings of a settled and civilized life, yet among
the Gypsies of Moscow there are not a few who inhabit stately houses,
go abroad in elegant equipages, and are not a whit behind the higher
order of Russians in appearance, nor in mental acquirements. To the
female part of the Gypsy colony of Moscow is to be attributed the merit
of this partial rise from abjectness and degradation, having from time
immemorial so successfully cultivated the vocal art, that, though in
the midst of a nation by whom song is more cherished and cultivated,
and its principles better understood, than by any other of the
civilized globe, the Gypsy choirs of Moscow are, by the general voice
of the Russian public, admitted to be unrivalled in that most amiable
of all accomplishments. It is a fact, notorious in Russia, that the
celebrated Catalini was so enchanted with the voice of one of these
Gypsy songsters, who, after the former had displayed her noble Italian
talent before a splendid audience at Moscow, stepped forward, and with
an astonishing burst of almost angelic melody, so enraptured every ear,
that even applause forgot its duty, and the noble Catalini immediately
tore from her own shoulders a shawl of Cashmere, which had been
presented to her by the Father of Rome, and embracing the Gypsy,
insisted on her acceptance of the splendid gift, saying, that it had
been intended for the matchless songster which she now perceived she
herself was not.




CHAPTER X.

OMENS, CHARMS, AND DIVINATION.


Many books have been published, having a tendency to deceive the
credulous, who suffer themselves to be guided by any thing but reason
and experience. Hence the encouragement bestowed on works of
enchantment, dreams, omens, and fate. Mankind have always discovered a
propensity to peep behind the veil of futurity, and have been lavish of
money in consulting persons and books that make a pretension of
unravelling the decrees of Fate, which lie hidden in the labyrinths of
darkness. From these sources have arisen the following superstitions,
as a sample of the many that have disturbed the peace of individuals,
families, and sometimes of whole communities.

"A coal in the shape of a coffin, flying out of the fire to any
particular person, denotes his death is not far off. A collection of
tallow rising up against the wick of a candle is called a
winding-sheet, and deemed an omen of mortality. If, in eating, you miss
your mouth, and the food falls, it is very unlucky, and denotes
sickness. To dream you are dressed in black is an unlucky omen. Some
quarrel is about to happen between you and a friend or relative.
Sickness is about to attend your family. Death will deprive you of some
friend or relation. Lawsuits will perplex and harass you. If you
undertake a journey, it will be unsuccessful. If you are in love, it
denotes that your sweetheart is very unhappy, and that sickness will
attend her. If you are a farmer, your crops will fail, the murrain will
attack your cattle, and some dreadful accident will happen by the
overturning of one of your wagons. If you are in business, some one
will arrest you, and you will have great difficulty in settling the
matter. To dream of hen and chickens is the forerunner of ill luck.
Your sweetheart will betray you and marry another. If you go to law,
the case will be decided against you. If you go to sea, you will lose
your goods, and narrowly escape shipwreck. To dream of coals denotes
much affliction and trouble. If you are in love, your sweetheart will
prove false, and do every thing to injure you. To dream you see the
coals extinguished, and reduced to cinders, denotes the death of
yourself, or some near friend or relation. It also indicates great
losses, and forewarns you of beggary and a prison. To dream you are
married is ominous of death. It also denotes poverty, a prison, and
misfortunes. To dream of lying with your newly-married husband or wife
denotes danger and sudden misfortunes."

_Popular charms_ are equally absurd and nonsensical. For example, a
ring made of the hinge of a coffin is good for the cramp. A halter with
which a man has been hanged, if tied about the head, will cure the
headache. A drop of blood of a black cat cures convulsions in children.
If a tree of any kind be split, and weak, rickety, or ruptured children
are drawn through it, and afterwards the tree is bound together, so as
to make it unite--as the tree heals and grows together, so will the
child acquire strength. If in a family the youngest daughter be married
before her older sisters, they must all dance at her wedding without
shoes, to counteract their ill luck, and procure themselves husbands.
And to procure luck when a person goes out to transact business, you
must throw an old shoe after him. To spit on the first money received
for the price of goods sold on any day will procure luck. And that
boxers must spit in their hands before they set to, for luck's sake.

Seamen have a superstition that if they whistle in a storm, the storm
will be increased. And in time of a calm, they practise whistling to
_call the wind_, as they term it. Among farmers, in setting a hen, it
is deemed lucky to use an odd number of eggs. Among soldiers, salutes
with cannon must be of an odd number. A royal salute is thrice seven,
or twenty-one guns. Healths are drank odd. Yet the number _thirteen_ is
sometimes deemed ominous; it being supposed that when thirteen persons
meet in a room, one of them will die within the year. To know whether a
woman shall have the man she desires, it is directed to get two lemon
peels, and wear them all day, one in each pocket, and at night rub the
four posts of the bedstead with them. If she is to succeed, the person
will appear to her in her sleep, and present her with a couple of
lemons. If not, there is no room for hope. And again the fair ones are
directed to take a piece of wedding cake, draw it thrice through the
wedding ring, lay it under their pillow, and they will certainly dream
of their future husbands. A thousand other equally successful methods
have been proposed to solve the mysteries of future fortune; and yet
the magical stone, that will turn all our schemes into wished-for
realities, remains to be discovered. As time advances, and knowledge
pervades the abodes of darkness and ignorance, all this trumpery of
ghosts, witches, fairies, tricks, and omens will go down to the "tomb
of the Capulets." People will be able to pass through the churchyard,
sleep in an old house, though the wind whistle ever so shrill, without
encountering any supernatural visitations. They will become wise enough
to trace private and public calamities to other causes than the
crossing of knives, the click of an insect, or even the portentous
advent of a comet. Thanks to the illustrious names recorded in the
annals of science and letters, who have contributed towards so happy a
consummation.




CHAPTER XI.

MODERN MIRACLES.


There are some who profess to believe in modern miracles. But such
belief necessarily partakes of superstition. The Savior gave no
intimation that miracles should continue after the establishment of
Christianity. He promised to be with his apostles even unto the end of
that age. He declared that all who believed their instructions should
also have power to cast out devils, heal diseases, speak with new
tongues, and withstand any deadly thing. But his promise did not extend
beyond the immediate converts of the apostles. And we have no
satisfactory evidence that miracles were wrought by any but these;
while we have abundant testimony that our Savior's promise was
literally fulfilled. In fact, there was no necessity for miracles after
the establishment of Christianity. They were first wrought as so many
testimonies that Jesus was the sent of God; and at the same time, were
so many significant emblems of his designs, so many types and figures,
aptly representing the benefits to be conferred upon the human race.
But they were not designed to be perpetuated; for a history of divine
revelation was committed to writing, and translated into the prevailing
languages of the civilized world. If any could be so obstinate as not
to be convinced of its divine origin by the mass of evidence with which
it was accompanied, neither would they believe, though one should rise
from the dead.

Pretended modern miracles admit of an easy explanation on natural
principles. Diseases have been suddenly healed; but imagination
effected the cure. Visions, ghosts, and apparitions have been seen; but
they existed only in the minds of the observers, and were caused by
some mental or bodily operation. But nothing of this kind can be said
of the miracles of Christ. His cannot be accounted for on any natural
principles, but must have been caused by divine miraculous agency.

Modern miracles are not supported by satisfactory evidence. They have
been mostly wrought in secret. No witnesses can be produced but the
most interested. This was not the case with those of our Savior. They
were performed openly, and in the presence of friends and enemies. They
could not be deceptions; for the resurrection of a dead person could be
tested by the evidence of the senses. The remark of Judge Howe may be
appropriately introduced in this connection. He had thoroughly and
impartially studied the evidences of Christianity, and a firm belief in
its divine origin was the result. He observed that no jury could be
found that would give a verdict against Christianity, if the evidences
on both sides could be fairly presented before them, and they were
governed in forming their opinion by the common rules of belief. The
truth of this observation is confirmed by the fact, that candid
inquirers after truth have uniformly risen from an examination of the
evidences of Christianity believers in its divine origin. The same
cannot be said of modern miracles. No jury could be obtained of
disinterested persons, who would give a verdict in their favor.
Therefore we have no satisfactory evidence of their reality. Our safest
course is to admit the conclusion of eminent writers of all
denominations, namely, that miracles ceased with the first converts of
Christianity.




CHAPTER XII.

PRETENDED PROPHETS AND CHRISTS.


Many have professed a belief in the divine inspiration of some one of
the many false prophets or Christs that have appeared in different ages
of the church. In the year 1830, there was a man in this country,
calling himself Matthias, who declared that he was the very Christ, and
pretended that he had come to judge the world. And strange as it may
seem, he was attended by some individuals of quite respectable
standing, who worshipped him as God! He appeared in pontifical robes,
with his rule in his right hand, and his two-edged sword in the left.
Underneath a rich olive broadcloth cloak, lined and faced with silk and
velvet, he wore a brown frock coat, with several stars on each breast,
and a splendid golden star on his left breast. His belt was of white
cloth fastened by a golden clasp, surmounted by an eagle. He
occasionally put on a cocked hat, of black beaver, trimmed with green,
the rear angle being surmounted by the golden symbol of glory.

On being asked where his residence was, and what was his occupation, he
replied, "I am a traveller, and my legal residence is Zion Hill,
Westchester county, New York; I am a Jewish teacher and priest of the
Most High, saying and doing all that I do, under oath, by virtue of my
having subscribed to all the covenants that God hath made with man from
the beginning up to this time. I am chief high priest of the Jews of
the order of Melchizedec, being the last chosen of the twelve apostles,
and the first in the resurrection which is at the end of 2300 years
from the birth of Mahomet, which terminated in 1830, that being the
summit of the power of the false prophets. I am now denouncing judgment
on the Gentiles, and that judgment is to be executed in this age. All
the blood from Zacharias till the death of the last witness is required
of this generation. Before this generation passeth away, this judgment
shall be executed and declared. The hour of God's judgment is come."

Matthias commenced his public career in Albany; but not making many
converts there, he soon removed to the city of New York. Here he met
with but little success for some time; but it appears that in the
autumn of 1832, he had succeeded in ingratiating himself into the favor
of a number of individuals, among whom were three of the most wealthy
and respectable merchants of Pearl Street. He represented himself to
them to be the Spirit of Truth, which had disappeared from the earth at
the death of Matthias mentioned in the New Testament, and that the
spirit of Jesus Christ entered into that Matthias whom he now
represented, having risen again from the dead. This blasphemous
impostor pretended to possess the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth, and that
he now, at his second appearance of the spirit, was the Father, and had
power to do all things, forgiving sins, and communicating the Holy
Ghost to such as believed on him. And what was most astonishing and
unparalleled, these men, who were before professors of the Christian
religion, were blind enough to believe and confide in all he imposed on
them.

So completely did he succeed in deluding these men, and in impressing
them with the belief that he was actually a high priest of the order of
the mysterious Melchizedec, upon a divine mission to establish the
kingdom of God upon the earth, that he obtained entire control over
them and their estates. "I know the end of all things," he would
assert, illustrating it by placing a piece of paper in a drawer,
leaving one end upon the outside, and saying, "You can see but one end
of the paper, and so the world sees; but I see the whole length of
it--I see the end."

Whenever he saw fit to call upon his dupes to contribute of their
substance for his support and the promotion of the kingdom he was about
to establish, he did so; and if they refused to provide him whatever
money he desired, he threatened to visit upon them (which he declared
he had the power to do) the wrath of the Almighty. But if they believed
in him and obeyed him in all things, he promised them that they should
be called into the kingdom, and he would forgive all their sins, and
they should enjoy eternal happiness. Impudent and blasphemous as such
language and pretensions truly were, the intended effect was produced,
and the prophet received new encouragement by the gratification of
pecuniary abundance. This object gained, he was enabled to adorn his
person with costly apparel, and to obtain other appurtenances and
furniture which he thought were necessary, that all things might
correspond to the nature and dignity of the office which he had
assumed.

In August, 1833, two of his friends and proselytes, Messrs. Pierson and
Folger, were residing at Sing Sing, Westchester county. Thither, about
that time, Matthias repaired, and took up his residence with Mr. Folger
and family. In a week or two, Matthias came to the conclusion that
their dwelling-place did not correspond with his character, and
accordingly suggested to Folger and Pierson that it was their duty to
hire, for his use, a house which he might consecrate wholly to himself.
In this he was accommodated, not only without any hesitation, but with
the acknowledgment that the request was reasonable. Soon after this, it
appeared to Matthias's mind, that his habitation should not be subject
to worldly interests or infidel intrusion; and he accordingly presumed
to require of his two obedient followers the purchase of a house to be
exclusively his own. With this request they agreed to comply. Before it
was accomplished, however, Matthias manifested some new attribute of
his character, and accompanied the revelation by an effort to make
Folger believe that the house in which he then resided at Sing Sing,
and had purchased some time previous for the use of himself and family,
was purchased at the instigation of the Spirit of Truth, for him,
Matthias--Folger having been the instrument under the influence of that
Spirit for that purpose! So complete was Matthias's control, that
Folger believed even this! And having resided with Messrs. Folger and
Pierson about two months, he took _this_ house, thus miraculously
purchased, into his own especial charge. Matthias then required these
gentlemen to give him an account of their property, and having obtained
this statement, which exhibited their easy circumstances, he required
both of them to enter into an agreement to support him, assuring them
they should receive the blessing of God by so doing. This agreement was
accordingly entered into, and Matthias enjoyed the full benefits of it
for several months, when Mr. Folger became bankrupt. His wants were
afterwards supplied by Pierson, until the death of Mr. P., which took
place under very suspicious circumstances. It seems that a short time
previous to this melancholy event, and while Mr. Pierson was yet in
health, Matthias prevailed upon him to assign him his whole estate. And
it seemed, by Matthias's account on his examination, that Messrs.
Folger, Pierson, and Mills frequently declared to him that they
believed him to be the _Father_, and that he was qualified to establish
God's kingdom on earth, and that Zion Hill, which was the place
miraculously purchased at Sing Sing, was transferred to him for that
purpose, together with horses, carriages, and furniture of a house in
Third Street, New York--that it was also agreed that the house and lot
in Third Street should be conveyed to him, and that Mr. Pierson
directed a deed to be made out accordingly, but died before it was
completed. He still considered the property as his own for the original
purpose, and considered it the beginning of the establishment of the
kingdom. It is certain that Mr. Pierson was suddenly taken sick, and it
was believed to be immediately after this contract was made. He fell
under the care of Matthias, who would neither allow his friends to
visit him, nor to call medical aid, declaring himself to "_have power
of life and death_." Mr. Pierson's body having been removed to New
Jersey for interment, a post mortem examination was held by four
respectable physicians, all of whom certified that they found in the
stomach a "_large quantity of an unwholesome and deadly substance_."
Matthias was therefore arrested with the charge of having poisoned Mr.
Pierson, on which he gave bail for appearance at court.

Soon after this, he went to the city of New York, and entering the
family of Mr. Folger, resided with them for several months; but the
mysterious death of Mr. Pierson, and the attending circumstances,
having shaken the confidence of Mr. Folger and his family, they began
to be conscious of their delusion, and resolved to abandon Matthias and
his principles. On announcing their determination to him, he resorted
to his old practice of threats and promises, and told them they must
not throw him destitute on the world; that, if they did so, the
blessing of God would depart from them, and sickness and perhaps death
would follow; but if they gave him money to support him, the blessing
of God should continue to them. Mr. Folger having become bankrupt,
Matthias perhaps was willing to leave him--not, however, without having
first insisted on a supply of money, which he obtained to the amount of
six hundred and thirty dollars, and immediately left the city. On the
morning of that day, Matthias partook of a very little breakfast, and
scarcely tasted of the coffee, alleging, as an excuse, that he was ill.
Immediately after breakfast, Mr. Folger, his wife, and children were
taken sick. Mr. Folger did not suspect the cause of their illness,
until after Matthias had left the city, when, upon examination, he
learned that the black woman who did the cooking for the family had
also abstained from the use of coffee that morning; and from other
circumstances he became confirmed that the woman was bribed by Matthias
to poison the family. The effort was unsuccessful, the poison producing
but a temporary effect. This nefarious transaction induced Mr. Folger
to procure the arrest of Matthias, firmly convinced, at this melancholy
stage, that he was a _base impostor_.

The third gentleman named as one of the dupes of Matthias became a
lunatic under the unfortunate delusion. But on a removal to the
country, and from the influence of the "prophet," he recovered, and
became convinced of his lamentable error.

In the sequel, it appeared that Matthias had received in the aggregate,
from these gentlemen, about ten thousand dollars in money, and
negotiable paper, which he appropriated in furnishing the establishment
at Zion Hill and in Third Street. And by whatever means he obtained
money, it is evident he used it for the wildest and most extravagant
purposes. His wardrobe was most bountifully supplied with new boots,
shoes, and pumps; linen shirts of the most exquisite fineness, the
wristbands fringed with delicate lace; silk stockings, handkerchiefs,
and gloves; coats embroidered with gold; merino morning dresses; and
two caps made of linen cambric, folded in the form of a mitre, richly
embroidered, one with the names of the twelve apostles written around
it, and "Jesus Matthias" adorning the front in prominent characters,
the other surrounded with the names of the twelve tribes, the front
like the other. With his two-edged sword (with gold chain and
mountings) he was to destroy the Gentiles, as Gideon did the
Midianites. With his six feet rule he was to measure the New Jerusalem,
"the gates thereof, and the walls thereof," and divide it into lots for
those who believed on him, and obeyed the Spirit of Truth, as it came
from him, the trumpet. With the golden key which he possessed, he was
to unlock the gates of paradise.

Somewhat versed in the rites and antiquities of the Jews, this impostor
united with a quick and active mind a considerable cunning, a fluent
speech, and a vast amount of persevering impudence, and endeavored to
impress his dogmas by assuming a sanctified and uncompromising air, and
by invariably fixing upon his victim his remarkably fierce and
penetrating eyes. He reasoned plausibly and ingeniously, and was
exceedingly subtle at evasion. Although he never could have obtained an
extensive and permanent influence, even if his knavery had not been
detected, since his schemes were too wild and incoherent, and his
demands too absurd to produce an effect that would endure beyond his
actual and immediate presence, yet that his blasphemous pretensions
should have gained any credence among intelligent minds is to be
greatly lamented. The whole history of these transactions will form a
dark page in the records of modern fanaticism, and will present an
enduring but melancholy evidence of the weakness of human nature.

As an excuse for the conduct of Matthias, or Matthews, which was his
real name, he was supposed by some to be laboring under monomania,
partly hereditary and partly superinduced by religious fanaticism and
frenzy. Still, he was not without "method in his madness;" and it seems
evident that, with a tinge of insanity, he was also much of a knave,
and probably a dupe in part to his own imposture. During his
confinement in jail, awaiting his trial for the alleged murder of Mr.
Pierson, Matthias issued a decree, commanding all the farmers to lay
aside their ploughs, declaring, "As I live, there shall be no more
sowing in the earth until I, the twelfth and last of the apostles, am
delivered out of the house of bondage." He also prophesied that if he
were convicted, White Plains should be destroyed by an earthquake, and
not an inhabitant be left to tell the tale of its destruction; and
strange to say, men were not found wanting who believed in his absurd
and blasphemous predictions. On trial, the physicians who had examined
the stomach of the deceased were led to suspect poison, but could not
say positively that poison had been administered; whereupon the
prisoner was discharged, on the ground that no evidence had been
produced to convict him either of murder or manslaughter. In the case
of his arrest at the instigation of Mr. Folger, that gentleman
afterwards wrote to the district attorney, requesting him to dismiss
the case, it not appearing to be an indictable one, and declaring, that
the day--"so far as passing himself for a _pure_ and _upright_
man--has passed, and there is no danger of his imposing upon any one
here or elsewhere." In a letter written by Mr. Folger, dated New York,
Nov. 8, 1834, and published in the Commercial Advertiser, Mr. Folger
says, "My object is now to rid myself of him and all connected with
him, with as little trouble as possible. Mr. Pierson, myself, and
family have been deeply, very deeply deluded, deceived, and imposed
upon; and I regret exceedingly that the former could not have been
spared to witness the deep deception. We are sensible of our error--we
repent it sincerely; and although we cannot expect to recover, at
present, the situation which we held in society previous to our
acquaintance with this vile creature, yet in time we shall be able to
show that we are enemies to him, and all who undertake to sustain him
in his wickedness and plans to destroy us."

For closeness of resemblance, in many striking features, to the case of
Matthias, was that of the Anabaptists of Munster, in Germany, which
excited the wonder of Europe during the early part of the seventeenth
century, and of which such strange accounts are to be found in the
histories of that epoch. The similarity between the principal of this
sect, known as John of Leyden, and Matthews, not only in doctrine, but
in worldly observance, in the passion for magnificence of apparel and
luxurious living, and in the rites and ceremonies exacted by each, is
so remarkable as almost to lead to the conclusion that the latter had
formed himself and his creed upon the model of his ancient prototype.
The number of deluded proselytes who blindly followed the dictates of
the Anabaptist leader was at one time so great, and their power so
formidable, that several princes of Germany united against them; and it
was not until after a vigorous siege, and an obstinate resistance, that
the city of Munster, of which the fanatics had obtained complete
possession, was taken and their power broken down.

This John of Leyden wore upon his head a triple crown of gold, richly
adorned with gems. Around his neck he wore, suspended by a golden
chain, an ornament of gold, representing the terrestrial globe, with a
cross, and two swords, one of gold, the other of silver, with the
inscription, "King of Righteousness over the whole world." He also
assumed the title of "the Father," and he required all his followers to
pledge themselves to do his will, and, if necessary, to suffer death at
his command, or in his defence and service. He enjoined and enforced a
community of goods, a surrender of all possessions, land, money, arms,
and merchandise to him, as the Father and Lord of all, to be employed
by him in the universal establishment of his kingdom; and he denounced
the vengeance of Heaven and eternal damnation on all such as refused to
believe in him and do his will. All churches and convents he commanded
to be destroyed, the priests denounced as children of darkness, and all
sovereigns he would put to death. He proclaimed the nullity of all
marriages, except such as were solemnized by himself or his own
prophets, but enjoined polygamy, himself setting the example. Each of
his principal followers had from six to eight wives, and both men and
women were compelled to marry. He taught that no man understood the
Scriptures but himself, or those whom he enlightened with his spirit,
and all the prophecies in the Old Testament, relating to the Savior, he
applied to himself, and proclaimed their fulfilment in the
establishment of his kingdom.

In our own country, the most surprising instance of imposture and
delusion, perhaps, that has occurred, was that of the Cochranites,
whose enormities in licentiousness made so much stir in Maine and New
Hampshire a few years since. Cochrane was an officer in the army,
thrown out of commission by the reduction of the military establishment
of the United States, after the conclusion of the last war with
England. Having become poor and penniless, he left Portland, and struck
off into the country, seeking his fortune, and caring not whither he
went. One day, as night drew on, he found himself near a farm house,
weary and hungry, and without a penny to purchase a mouthful of food or
the use of a pillow for the night. The thought struck him suddenly of
throwing himself upon the hospitality of the farmer, for the occasion,
in the character of a minister. Introducing himself as such to the
family, he was cordially received, and as the country was new and
destitute of clergymen, the good people forthwith despatched messengers
to the neighbors, that a minister had come among them, and invited them
in to attend a meeting. The impostor had not anticipated so speedy a
trial of his clerical character; but having assumed it, there was no
escape--he must act the part, for the time being, in the best way he
could. Being neither ignorant nor destitute of talents, he succeeded in
acquitting himself much better than he had anticipated, and gave so
much satisfaction to his audience as to induce him to persevere in the
imposture he had commenced. As he acquired skill and confidence by
practice in his new vocation, his popularity increased, and he soon
found it a profitable occupation. He was followed by multitudes, and it
was not long before he announced himself as some great one, and founded
a new sect of religionists. His command over the audiences which he
addressed is said to have been wonderful, and his influence over his
followers unbounded. It seemed as though he was enabled to hold the
victims of his impostures in a state of enchantment. A professor in an
eastern college having heard of the wonderful sway which Cochrane held
over his disciples, and of the impressions he made upon casual hearers,
determined one evening to go and witness his performances. While
present, although a very cool and grave personage, he said he felt some
strange, undefinable, mysterious influence creeping over him to such a
degree, that he was obliged actually to tear himself away, in
apprehension of the consequences. This gentleman, however, was a
believer in animal magnetism, and was therefore inclined to attribute
it to that cause. It was said that if the impostor did but touch the
hand or neck of a female, his power over her person and reason was
complete. Consequently it led to the most open and loathsome
sensuality. So atrocious was his conduct, that he seduced great numbers
of females, married and unmarried, under the pretext of raising up a
holy race of men. The peace of many families was broken up, and the
village kept an establishment like a seraglio--a disgusting and
melancholy commentary upon the weakness of human nature. His career,
however, was but of short duration.

A history of religious impostures would form a library of itself. The
human mind, in all ages and countries, and under all forms of
government and religion, seems to have been wonderfully susceptible of
delusion and imposition upon that subject, which, of all others, is the
most important for time and eternity. The court of Egypt was deluded by
the impostors who undertook to contend with Moses. And the chosen
people themselves, notwithstanding the direct disclosures which the
Most High had made of himself, in all their wonderful history, were
prone to turn aside from the worship of the true God, to follow the
lying spirits of the prophets of Baal and other deceivers, from the
days of Moses till the destruction of Jerusalem. So, likewise, under
the Christian dispensation, from the defection of Simon Magus to the
wild delirium of Edward Irving, there have been a succession of
Antichrists, until their name is legion--pretenders to divine missions,
the power of working miracles, the gift of tongues--perverting the
Scriptures, leading astray silly men and women--destroying the peace of
families, throwing communities into confusion, and firebrands into the
church--clouding the understandings, and blinding the moral perceptions
of men, and subverting the faith of these even whose mountains stood
strong, and who had been counted among the chosen people of God. "In
the last days," says the apostle Peter, "there shall come scoffers,
walking after their own lusts,"--"chiefly them which walk after the
flesh, in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government; presumptuous
are they, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities;
sporting themselves in their own deceivings, having eyes full of
adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls; for
when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the
flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them
who live in error; while they promise them liberty, they themselves are
the servants of corruption." Jude also admonishes us "to remember that
they were foretold as mockers, who should be in the last time, who
should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate
themselves, sensual, not having the Spirit."

It is wonderful to observe with what precision these prophecies have
been fulfilled by the clouds of impostors who have appeared--"spoken
great swollen words of vanity," and fallen--since the inspired
sentences were uttered. And it may be regarded as one of the evidences
of the truth of inspiration, that, had the long array of apostates and
deceivers actually stood before the sacred penmen, at the time of their
writing, their characters all naked before them, the likenesses, from
the first Christian apostate to the sensual Mormons, could not have
been drawn with greater fidelity. The "TRUTH OF GOD," distinctly
set forth in the book of Revelation, is an infallible criterion
by which to test the true character of any religious opinion or
practice; nor can any radical or fundamental error long escape
detection, when subjected to this plain and unerring standard.




CHAPTER XIII.

MORMON SUPERSTITION.


A certain Joseph Smith, Jr., pretended, a few years ago, to have been
directed by the Spirit of God to dig, in a hill, in the township of
Manchester, Ontario county, New York, for a set of golden plates which
were there concealed, and upon which were inscribed sacred records by
the hands of Mormon. He obeyed the direction and found the plates. The
inscriptions upon them were in an unknown tongue. But, by the special
power of the Spirit, Smith was enabled to translate them. A volume
containing these writings was soon after published, constituting, in
the whole, fifteen books, purporting to have been written at different
times, and by the different authors whose names they respectively bear.
In these writings there seems to be a bungling attempt to imitate the
style of the sacred Scriptures. But the attempt is manifestly
unsuccessful. Nearly two thirds of the paragraphs are introduced with
the phrase, "And it came to pass." In endeavoring to preserve the
solemn style of the Scriptures, there is great disregard of grammatical
propriety. We read, "The Lord _sayeth_ unto me, and I _sayeth_ unto the
Lord." Perhaps a few extracts, selected at chance, will give the reader
a more correct idea of the general style of the book than any remarks
we might offer.

"And it came to pass that when they had _arriven_ in the borders of the
land of the Lamanites."

"And it came to pass that I Nephi did make _bellowses_ wherewith to
blow the fire."

"And it came to pass that Limhi and many of his people _was_ desirous
to be baptized."

The Mormon preachers claim for themselves and the members of their
church the power of working miracles, and of speaking with new tongues.
They jabber with some strange sounds, and call this the speaking with
tongues. They assert it as a fact, that among them the dead have been
raised, and the sick healed, as in the days of Christ and his apostles.
From these _facts_, as they call them, they draw the conclusion that
_they_ are the members of the true church of Christ. The doctrine
increases among men; and well it may, for there are circumstances in
the condition and views of those who embrace it which are calculated to
secure its success. In a large portion of the community there is a
great degree of ignorance in regard to the geography of the sacred
Scriptures, the manners and customs of the Jews, and the natural
history of the Bible. There are many who read their Bibles daily, and
with true devotional feelings, it may be, who have no idea that the
places mentioned in sacred history, like those mentioned in any other
history, can be traced on the map, can be found and visited at the
present day, although disguised under modern names. It makes no part of
their study of the Bible to ascertain where the places mentioned are to
be found, and what they are now called. They have no idea that the
allusions to manners and customs, found in the Bible, can be
understood, through an acquaintance with the practices and habits of
the people described; and, consequently, the study of Jewish manners
and customs makes no part of their preparation for understanding the
Scriptures. They have no idea that the allusion in Scripture to facts
in natural history can be verified by an acquaintance with that
science, and therefore they make no exertions to understand the natural
history of the Bible. They do not take up the Bible and read it with
the expectation of being able to understand it, in regard to these
particulars, as they would understand any other book. All such are
prepared, by their ignorance on these subjects, to become the dupes of
the Mormon delusion; or, at least, they are not prepared to withstand
this delusion. They open the Book of Mormon, claiming to be a kind of
appendix to the Bible. The paragraphs begin with the phrase, "And
behold it came to pass." They read of the cities of Zarahemla, Gid,
Mulek, Corianton, and a multitude of others. They read of prophets and
preachers, of faith, repentance, and obedience; and having been
accustomed, in reading the Scriptures, to take all such things just as
they are presented, without careful examination, they can see no reason
why all this is not as much entitled to belief as are the records of
the Old and New Testaments. But if, on the contrary, they were
acquainted with the geography and the natural history of the Bible, and
with the manners and customs of the nations there mentioned, and
especially if, in their reading of the Scriptures, they were accustomed
to examine carefully into these points, they would at once perceive the
utter impossibility of identifying the cities mentioned in the Book of
Mormon with any geographical traces which they can now make. They would
thus perceive the deception, and be put on their guard. And then, too,
upon further examination, they would discover that the manners and
customs of the people, the sentiments and disputes, are not such as
belong to the period of the world in which the people are represented
to have lived; that they take their coloring from modern customs, from
modern opinions and controversies; and, upon these discoveries, they
would be led to reject the whole as a fabrication.

Many are deceived in consequence of the fluency of the preachers in
warning sinners. They pray with fervor; the people are affected; and
the Spirit of God is declared to be present, owning and blessing the
work. But there is deception here. It is but a few years since the
Cochrane delusion, as it is called, prevailed in and around the village
of Saco, Maine. What gave that delusion so much success? It was because
Cochrane spoke with great fluency, warned sinners with great
earnestness, and poured forth his prayers with zealous fervor. The
people became affected; many were in tears; many sobbed aloud, cried
for mercy, and some became prostrate on the floor. "Surely," it was
remarked, "the doctrines advanced by Cochrane must be true, the
preaching of them being so signally owned and blessed of God." In this
way, men of sound judgment in other respects are carried away by false
views and appearances, and become the dupes of the most extravagant
sentiments and delusions. They become "zealously affected," but it is
not, as the apostle says, "in a good thing." A correct knowledge of the
sacred Scriptures, and of proper principles in regard to the study of
the Bible, with sound and rational views of the nature of religion, and
of the influences of the Holy Spirit, will serve to correct all such
tendencies to error and deception.

From the best account that has been published respecting the _origin_
of the Mormon Bible, it appears that it was written by an individual
named Solomon Spaulding, some twenty-five years ago; but without the
least intention, on the part of the author, of framing a system of
delusion for his fellow-men. This Spaulding was a native of Ashford, in
Connecticut, where he was distinguished, at an early age, for his
devotion to study, and for the superiority of his success over that of
his schoolmates. He received an academic education, and commenced the
study of law at Windham; but his mind inclining to religious subjects,
he abandoned the law, went to Dartmouth College, prepared himself for
the ministry, and was regularly ordained. For some reasons unknown he
soon abandoned that profession, and established himself as a merchant
at Cherry Valley, New York. Failing in trade, he removed to Conneaut,
in Ohio, where he built a forge; but again failed, and was reduced to
great poverty. While in this condition, he endeavored to turn his
education to account, by writing a book, the sale of which he hoped
would enable him to pay his debts and support his family. The subject
selected by him was one well suited to his religious education. It was
an historical novel, containing an account of the aborigines of
America, who were supposed by some to have descended from the ten
tribes of Israel. The work was entitled the "Manuscript Found," and the
history commenced with one Lehi, who lived in the reign of Zedekiah,
king of Judea, six hundred years before the Christian era. Lehi, being
warned of Heaven of the dreadful calamities that were impending over
Jerusalem, abandoned his possessions, and fled with his family to the
wilderness. After wandering for some time, they arrived at the Red Sea,
and embarked on board a vessel. In this, after floating about for a
long time, they reached America, and landed at the Isthmus of Darien.
From the different branches of this family were made to spring all the
Indian nations of this continent. From time to time they rose to high
degrees of civilization and refinement; but desolating wars among
themselves scattered and degraded them. The Manuscript was written in
the style of the Bible, the old English style of James the First. When
the work was ready for the press, Spaulding endeavored to obtain the
pecuniary assistance necessary for its publication, but his affairs
were in so low a condition that he could not succeed. He then removed
to Pittsburg, and afterwards to Amity, in Pennsylvania, where he died.
By some means or other, the Manuscript fell into the hands of Joseph
Smith, Jr., who afterwards published it under the name of the "Golden
Bible." Smith was the son of very poor and superstitious parents, and
was for a long time engaged in digging for Kidd's money, and other
feats of like description. Possessing considerable shrewdness, he
became somewhat skilled in feats of necromancy and juggling. He had the
address to collect about him a gang of idle and credulous young men,
whom he employed in digging for hidden treasures. It is pretended that,
in one of the excavations they made, the mysterious plates from which
the Golden Bible was copied were found. Such, briefly is the origin of
the Mormon faith--a humbug to which not a few, otherwise sensible men,
have pinned their hopes of happiness here and hereafter.

After the death of Joseph Smith, and shortly before the Mormons were
driven out from Illinois, many of the disciples of the great impostor
seceded and refused to acknowledge the leadership of the knowing twelve
who became his successors. Among them were a very pious Mormon named
McGhee Vanduzen, and his wife Maria. They soon gave to the world an
exposition of the shameful manoeuvres attendant upon Mormonism as a
religion; of the absurd and indecent ceremonies which the unprincipled
leaders of that wicked imposture enforced upon their infatuated
disciples. Smith, and his associate leaders at Nauvoo, evidently
established these ceremonies for the base purpose of enticing the more
beautiful females among his disciples to their ruin and disgrace. The
shameful character of the mysteries developed could lead to no other
conclusion.

Says the Boston Traveller, of April 21, 1852, "The rapid spread of
Mormonism is one of the mysteries of the age. A more barefaced
delusion, except that of the spiritual rappings, was never imposed on
the all-swallowing credulity of mankind. Yet it has gained adherents by
thousands in Europe as well as in the United States."




CHAPTER XIV.

MILLER DELUSION.


A man by the name of William Miller published a book in the year 1836,
in which he undertook to show that this earth would be destroyed in the
year 1843. His calculation, as to the transpiration of such an event
during the said year, is founded upon the prophecy of Daniel, that the
_sanctuary should be cleansed!_ in two thousand three hundred days. He
took the days to mean years, and began his reckoning from the going
forth of the commandment to restore Jerusalem, mentioned in a
subsequent vision. Why did he not begin the reckoning from the date of
the vision itself? Because this would not answer Mr. Miller's turn. To
tell the people that the earth was to be burned up in 1747, would
produce little or no excitement. He must hit upon a time for the
beginning which would make the end yet future, in order to gratify his
love for the marvellous.

That Mr. Miller intended to manage his reckoning of time to suit his
own scheme, is obvious from his different computations of time, to
_make_ his interpretations of other prophecies comport with his
application of the two thousand three hundred days. Daniel says, "And
from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the
abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two
hundred and ninety days." "Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to
the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." Taking the
thousand three hundred and thirty-five days to reach from the taking
away of the daily sacrifice, and setting up the abomination that maketh
desolate, to the resurrection, he subtracts the thousand three hundred
and thirty-five from it, and finds the remainder to be five hundred and
eight, which must, to suit his calculation, be the year of our Lord in
which the daily sacrifice should be taken away, &c. Then, to get at the
taking away of a daily sacrifice, and the setting up of an abomination
that maketh desolate, which should come any where in the neighborhood
of this date, he makes the taking away of the daily sacrifice to be the
doing away of the pagan worship in Rome, and the setting up the
abomination spoken of to be the commencement of the Papal authority.
This he sets at A.D. 508, without reference to fact, because his
reckoning of prophetic time brings it so. The truth is, that the pagan
character of Rome ceased soon after the conversion of the Emperor
Constantine to Christianity, which was about A.D. 313. This makes
about 195 years' difference in the age of the world, and brings it to
an end in 1648, over 200 years ago!

But let us examine a little farther. Having come, as we have shown, at
A.D. 508, which, having taken from the years of Christ's life 33,
leaves 475 from the death of Christ, he proceeds to add up: The 70
weeks, or 490 years, to the crucifixion of Christ, 490; from the
crucifixion of Christ to the taking away the daily sacrifice, 475. And
here are his time, times, and half, which he takes to be the duration
of the pagan reign, i.e., three years and a half, which, taking a day
for a year, makes 1260.

Here, then, he has his whole time, down to the end of his second or
Papal transgression of desolation, which he has all along held to be
the end of the world. But these several numbers added amount to but
2225, 75 short of the 2300, reckoning from the going forth of the
decree to rebuild Jerusalem. And what now shall be done? How shall the
75 years be made up to bring the end of the world to 1843? Why, he
succeeds in finding two different numbers in the 12th of Daniel, viz.,
1290 and 1335. And nothing is easier, when you have two different
numbers, to substract the less from the greater. This he does in the
present case, and finds the difference to be just 45. Well, what of
that? Why, he says this is the time which was to elapse between the
destruction of the great beast in his second or Papal character, and
the resurrection! He does not pretend that the vision mentions this,
but so he fixes it. He is like a country schoolmaster, who, not always
finding it easy to manage by rules, when a scholar would carry him a
sum which he could not work, he would look at the answer in the book,
and get the difference between that and his own, and then he would slip
in the ascertained difference, somewhere in the operation, to be added
or substracted, as the case might require, to bring the answer as he
wished it.

But although he succeeded in finding 45 years, he is still minus 30,
for it brings out the end in 1813. And how shall the other 30 years be
found? It must be gotten somehow, for who will believe it as it now
stands? Yet this extraordinary man meets with no difficulty in finding
the 30 years. In his parade of parts, of factors, to make up the great
whole, he sets down for the space between the putting down of the Pagan
power, to the setting up the same power, 30 years! And how he gets this
number there, no mortal can tell. Yes, he tells us himself.

Considering himself so great a prophet, he seems to think that his own
suppositions will certainly pass among others as good authority. He
therefore unblushingly tells us that he _supposes_ this 30 years. Hear
him, (page 96.) "Therefore, to reconcile these two statements, _we must
conclude_ there were 30 years from A.D. 508, when paganism ceased,
before the image beast, or Papal Rome, would begin her reign. _If_ this
is correct, then," &c.

Here, then, the foundation on which he keeps the world standing from
1813 to 1843, is a simple _if_. And to get in these supposititious
30 years, between the death of the pagan and the life of the Papal
beast, he involves himself in a maze of absurdity. He makes the taking
away of the daily sacrifice to be the putting an end to the Papal
beast, that did daily sacrifice to idol abominations. The little horn,
by whom the daily sacrifice was taken away, Mr. Miller takes to be the
Papal beast, or Catholic church. This beast takes away the daily
sacrifice, i.e., puts an end to the pagan beast, and yet does not
exist until 30 years after the pagan beast is dead. This is truly an
unheard of strait for a schemer to come to, to be obliged, in order to
bring out his reckoning, to get 30 years between the existence of two
beasts, one of which kills the other. The second beast slays the first,
and performs many wonderful works, 30 years before he has any
existence! No marvel that the man who could see into such mysteries
should imagine that he could see the end of the world in 1843!

Mr. Miller commits various other errors in his calculations and dates,
as, for instance, he states that pagan Rome commenced 148 years before
Christ, whereas Rome was founded by Romulus, as an independent
government, 752 years before Christ, being pagan from its beginning. He
dates the erection of the Papal authority at A.D. 538. By the Papal
power he means, of course,--not the Papal doctrine, for that existed
much earlier than 538,--but the establishment of the civil authority.
And this was not until about A.D. 750.

Indeed, Mr. Miller is palpably wrong in nearly all his positions; and
the reason is, he is not looking for facts, but for reckonings to fill
out his own scheme. And even in this, too, he fails. On page 109 of his
Course of Lectures, first published in 1836, speaking of events to
happen in 1839, he holds the following language: "He that is filthy
will be filthy still. Mankind will, for a short season, give loose to
all the corrupt passions of the human heart. No laws, human or divine,
will be regarded; all authority will be trampled under foot; anarchy
will be the order of government, and confusion _fill the world with
horror and despair_. Murder, treason, and crime will be _common law_,
and division and disunion _the only bond of fellowship_. Christians
will be persecuted unto death, and dens and caves of the earth will be
their retreat. _All things_ which are not _eternal_ will be _shaken to
pieces_, that which cannot be shaken may remain. And this, if I am
right in my calculations, will begin _on or before_ A.D. 1839. 'And at
_that time_ (1839) thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall
be found written in the book.' _Now_ is come salvation indeed. The
people of God are _now_ to be delivered from outward foes and inbred
lusts, from the corruptions of the grave and the vileness of the flesh.
Every one, the poor and despised child of God, will _then_ (in 1839) be
delivered when he makes up his jewels.'"

Mr. Miller, in finding that things did not take place as he prophesied,
put a note in the end of his book, on the last page, stating that he
had made a _mistake of one year_ in some of his computations, and hence
these things which he _supposed_ would take place in 1839, according to
the first computation, will not be realized until the year 1840! And
yet 1840 passed over our heads, and these things did not take place. On
page 296 of his Lectures, he says the sixth vial was poured out in
1822, when the Ottoman power began to be dried up. This he considered
to be a very important sign, indicating that we were on the very brink
of the _judgment day_. Here he introduces Rev. xvi. 12. "And the sixth
angel poured out his vial upon the great River Euphrates; and the
waters thereof were dried up, that the way of the kings of the earth
might be prepared." This preparation, Mr. M. says, is for the last
great battle, which will take place at the pouring out of the seventh
vial, in the year 1839 or 1840. "At the pouring out of the seventh
vial, a voice from the throne will pronounce the words, _It is done_.
The kingdoms of the earth and the governments of the world will be
carried away, and their places be known no more." But these kingdoms
still remain.

Mr. Miller's last assumption was, that Christ would come in the spring
of 1844, at the date corresponding with the ending of the Jewish year
for 43. Mr. M. says, in his preface to his book, "If I have erred in my
exposition of the prophecies, _the time, being so near at hand_, will
soon expose my folly." He had already seen the folly of some of his
computations, and he seemed to fear lest it might prove the same in the
final result also. And this he soon experienced, as may be seen by
reading his _confession_, made at the Tabernacle in Boston, on the
evening of May 28, 1844. He there stated that what he had preached and
published respecting the coming of the Lord in 1843 was done honestly;
(!) that he fully believed it; but that the time had now _passed_, and
he was _proved to be mistaken_; that when the time arrived and the
event did not take place, he felt bad--felt lonely--thought he should
never have any more to say in public; that he felt worse on the account
of others than he did for himself. He said there was an error somewhere
in his calculations, but he could not tell where. He had now no
definite time--he should wait God's time: it might come in a day, it
might not come in fifty years; he could not say exactly when; he was
waiting. Thus the whole affair exploded--came to nought; although much
evil in regard to Mr. Miller's prophecies may yet be experienced in the
community. Some will yet cling most obstinately to the system, and
still maintain that Christ may be expected every day, hour, or minute,
while others will fix upon some other date within a short period of
time. They will still refer us to certain signs in the starry heavens,
endeavoring to persuade the people to believe that the whole machinery
of nature is out of joint, and that this is a certain precursor to the
speedy dissolution of the world.

One of the second advent preachers gave the startling intelligence that
"_fifteen hundred_ stars had _recently_ faded from the vault of
heaven." But what are the facts? Not more than _thirteen_ stars are
recorded in the annals of astronomy as having been lost; and so far
from having faded _recently_, some of them disappeared many ages
since. It is not even certain that any stars have been blotted out.
There are nearly one hundred variable stars which have periods of
unusual brilliancy, and then gradually fade till nearly invisible, and
after a time revive again. The thirteen missing stars may be of this
description. These changes were observed many centuries ago. The bright
star which appeared suddenly, with unusual splendor and brilliancy, in
Cassiopeia, in 1572, is supposed to be the same star which suddenly
appeared in the same place, with great lustre, about the year 900, and
also about 600 years before, during the intervals of which it was
invisible.

The same preacher adduced the Aurora Borealis as another sign of the
last days. "Is it not remarkable," says he, "that no record of them
appears till _quite recently_?" But what are the facts? It was indeed
supposed by many, who had not investigated the subject, that the Aurora
was first seen in England in 1716; but on examination we find it spoken
of in 1560, in a scientific work, entitled A Description of Meteors,
published soon after the invention of printing, subsequent to which,
and before 1716, there are many accounts of the same phenomenon.

Many have supposed that nothing has ever before appeared, similar to
the remarkable _red Aurora_, which was witnessed on the evening of
January 25, 1837. Yet such spectacles have often been witnessed in the
northern parts of Sweden, Lapland, and Siberia, and in remote and
different periods. The Aurora is a great blessing in those high
northern latitudes, where the sun is absent for many weeks, furnishing
the inhabitants with a splendid light, in the midst of their dreary
winter nights. Gmelin describes the Aurora Borealis of those regions as
differing in color according to the states of the atmosphere,
"sometimes assuming the appearance of blood." He observes that "they
frequently begin with single bright pillars rising in the north, and
almost at the same time in the north-east, which, gradually increasing,
comprehend a large space in the heavens, rush about, with incredible
velocity, from place to place, and finally almost cover the whole sky
to the zenith, producing an appearance as if a vast tent was expanded
in the heavens, glittering with gold, rubies, and sapphire. A more
beautiful spectacle cannot be painted." These lights occasionally come
so far south as to illuminate the sky in our latitude. Sometimes they
have not appeared for many years. In 1716, these lights were seen in
England, though never witnessed before by the oldest inhabitants
living; and, as might be expected, they were alarmed, and actually
supposed the day of judgment had come. From Barber's History of New
England, we learn that the first appearance of the northern lights in
this country, after the period of its first settlement, was on December
11, 1719, "when they were remarkably bright; and, as people in general
had never heard of such a phenomenon, they were extremely alarmed with
the apprehension of the final judgment. All amusements, all business,
and even sleep was interrupted, for want of a little knowledge of
history." We were told by some of the advent preachers that meteors and
shooting stars, falling to the earth, were never seen until 1799. But
this is a great mistake. As early as the year 472, Theophanes relates,
"The sky appeared to be on fire, with the coruscations of flying
meteors." Virgil, in his book of Georgics, speaks as follows:--

    "And oft, before tempestuous winds arise,
    The seeming _stars fall headlong_ from the skies,
    And, _shooting_ through the darkness, gild the night
    With sweeping glories and _long trails of light_."

In 553, under the reign of Justinian, were seen showers of falling
stars in extraordinary numbers. In 763, under that of Constantine
Capronymus, the same spectacle was witnessed. In 1099, in the month of
November, it is said, in Vogel's Leipzig Chronicles, that there was
seen an unheard-of number of falling stars, burning torches, and fiery
darts in the sky. In 1464, on the 7th of November, the great meteoric
stone fell at Ensisheim, in Alsace. On the 8th of August, 1723,
numerous falling stars appeared in many parts of the heavens, like
fireflies.

But we are told of the sun and moon appearing like blood, and that this
sign of our Lord's second coming was never witnessed, since the
resurrection, till the year 1780. Yet this is likewise a mistake; for
in the Basle Chronicle of Urtisus, under the year 1566, mention is made
of the fact, that on the 28th and 29th of July, the sun and moon became
_blood red_; and on the 7th of August, this striking phenomenon was
again repeated. And, according to the Frankfort Chronicle of Lersner,
under the year 1575, on the 29th of July, a _remarkable redness of the
sun_ occurred.

It has been said that the _darkness_ of the sun, that occurred in
1780, was a sign given to portend the speedy destruction of the world.
Why was it not then witnessed simultaneously in all parts of the earth?
It was confined principally to New England and witnessed only by the
generation preceding the present. To be sure, thousands were appalled
by the event, and a feeling that the judgment day had actually come
rested upon many minds. But yet they were in a mistake. This darkness
commenced on the 19th of May, between the hours of 10 and 11 A.M., and
continued until the middle of the next night. Persons were unable to
read common print, determine the time of day by their clocks or
watches, dine, or manage their business, without additional light.
Candles were lighted in their houses. The birds sang their evening
songs, disappeared, and became silent. The fowls retired to roost. The
cocks were crowing all around, as at break of day. Objects could be
distinguished but at a very little distance, and every thing bore the
appearance and gloom of night. The legislature of Connecticut was in
session at this time, in Hartford city. A very general opinion
prevailed that the judgment day was at hand. The House of
Representatives, being unable to transact business, adjourned. A
proposal to adjourn the council was under consideration. When the
opinion of Colonel Davenport was asked, he answered, "I am against an
adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not.
If it is not, there is no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I choose
to be found doing my duty. I wish, therefore, that candles may be
brought."

A similar darkness has sometimes gathered over the city of London, in
consequence of a vast accumulation of smoke, so as to make it necessary
for passengers in the streets to use lighted torches at midday. In
1783, a great part of Europe was for weeks overspread with a haziness
of atmosphere which caused great consternation. The churches were
crowded with supplicants. The astronomer Lalande attempted to allay the
fright by endeavoring to account for the appearance, which he ascribed
to an uncommon exhalation of watery particles from the great rain of
the preceding year. But at last it was ascertained to be owing to
smoke, occasioned by the great eruption of the volcano Hecla, which
covered more than three thousand square miles with burning lava, in
some places to the depth of forty feet. Dr. Franklin was in Europe at
the time, and afterwards gave an account of the circumstances relating
to this uncommon eruption. In fact, immense issues of smoke, from fires
and volcanoes, have, from time immemorial, produced similar effects in
different countries.

We will subjoin a few remarkable appearances that have taken place in
the heavens, that the reader may at once perceive that in scarcely any
age of the world have its inhabitants been destitute of some _sign_,
that might, to the timid and uninformed, be considered as the
prognostication of some awful catastrophe about to happen.

In 1574, on the 15th of November, _large and terrific beams of fiery
light_ were seen during the night. And similar appearances are noted in
Vogel's Chronicles, as having occurred in November, 1637, and 1661. In
the old Breslau Collections, there is mention made of a large _moonlike
meteor_, which passed off with an explosion, on the 10th of November,
1721; and of a great _fire-flash_, or _flame-emitting comet_, on the
12th day. According to Vogel's Chronicles, there appeared on the 30th
November, 1663, _a large cross_, and other signs in the skies. On the
11th of August, 1561, there was seen, in the forenoon, _a very
remarkable red meteor_, emitting frequent _flashes of light_. In 1717,
_numerous meteors_ were seen at Fryeburg; and at Utchland, in August,
1715. On the 10th of August, 1717, _a large fire-ball_ was seen in
Lusace, Silesia, Poland, and Hungary. In the Frankfort Chronicle of
July 29, 1694, it is mentioned that _the heavens were full of fiery
flames!_ as also again on the 9th of August. On February 22, 1719, _a
large fire-ball_ was seen in several places. On the 22d, 1720, _an
immense red cross_ was seen at Novogorod and Kiew; and on the 19th,
1722, _a huge fire-ball_!

What would the Millerites think, if they should now see "an immense red
cross in the heavens," "a remarkable red meteor, emitting flashes of
light during the night," or "a blood-red appearance of the sun and
moon," and "showers of falling stars in extraordinary numbers"? These
things are as likely to happen at the present day as they were a
hundred years ago, and still the world remains as it has remained.

Just before the last return of Halley's comet, an article was published
in a religious paper in this state, going to show that the world would
probably be struck and set on fire by a comet, and that, most likely,
Halley's would be the one to do it, as it was coming much nearer the
earth than it had ever been before. The editor seemed to be ignorant
that the quantity of matter that enters into the constitution of a
comet is exceedingly small, and that the comet of 1770, which was quite
large and bright, passed through the midst of Jupiter's satellites
without deranging their motions in the least perceptible degree.
Comets, it is believed, consist of exceedingly rare vapor; indeed, so
much so, that some philosophers say that our thinnest clouds are dense
in comparison. And yet this exceedingly thin vapor was to dash the
world to atoms, or set it on fire, it was not fully determined which.

Whether comets, or any unusual appearances in the sky, are to be
considered as _signs_ prognosticating the final dissolution of all
things, as being near at hand, is for each to determine for himself.
And in forming a judgment upon the subject, we may surely be permitted
to exercise the common sense which God has given us. To lay this aside,
and judge only by _feeling_ or _fancy_, is to criminally reject a light
which we are _sure_ is from God, and follow one which _may_ prove an
_ignis fatuus_, and land us in the quagmire of infidelity. If the
Scripture signs are to receive a _literal_ fulfilment, we may
reasonably expect that they will conform to the four following tests:--

1. They will appear _near_ the event of which they are intended as the
harbinger; probably within the generation of those who will be living
at the end of the world.

2. They will be witnessed in all parts of the earth, because all are
alike interested.

3. They may _all_ be expected to appear, and not a single class of
phenomena without the other.

4. They will be such as will impress intelligent minds with their
strangeness and peculiarity.

The Aurora Borealis conforms not to any of these tests. It has been
seen for centuries, and is confined to the northern portions of the
globe; having rarely, if ever, been seen so far north as the thirtieth
degree of north latitude. And, as we have before remarked, the darkness
of 1780 was confined principally to New England. And from a careful
examination of all the accounts we have been able to collect of
meteoric showers of the last and present century, the whole of them
together have occupied a space on the globe less than one eighth of its
surface. The shower of 1799 was probably the most extensive. Its centre
was near the middle of the Atlantic; its edges touched the northern
parts of South America, the coast of Labrador and Greenland, and the
western shores of Europe and Africa. That of 1833 may be represented on
a six-inch globe by the space occupied by a dollar. Such magnificent
scenes are calculated to impress the mind with awe; yet it is
surprising that many intelligent persons should suppose them to be the
precursors of the final conflagration. If the simple but reasonable
tests we have given be correct, they are disarmed of their character as
ominous of the destruction of the world.

With regard to any changes in the order or succession of the heavenly
bodies, it is only necessary to observe, that hundreds of scientific
men, in Europe and America, have for many years been employed in
exploring the material heavens with the most powerful telescopes. Many
are employed, by the governments of Europe, in astronomical
observations, scattered over the earth, for the express purpose of
making new discoveries, if possible, and of furthering the interests of
science. No phenomenon escapes their notice; and should any thing
extraordinary occur, it would appear before the public, vouched by
names that would command universal credence. It may be unnecessary to
add, that no such changes in the planets and fixed stars, as have been
proclaimed to the world by some of the second advent preachers, have
been observed by learned astronomers and men of science.




CHAPTER XV.

INTERCOURSE WITH DEPARTED SPIRITS.


In no age, says a popular writer, has the world been destitute of those
who professed, by some instrumentality or other, to hold intercourse
with departed spirits. Neither has any age been without its reputed
spectres, ghosts, or apparitions. The high priest of the Buddhist and
Hindoo temples, in former times, when arrayed in the consecrated
garments for the festivals, wore a round knob, about the size of a
large pendent drop of a chandelier, suspended from his neck by a chain
of great value and of dazzling brilliancy. It was through the agency of
this crystal that he was supposed to hold communion with the spirit or
spirits to whom he and his followers accorded devotion and made
intercessions; and the glass, acting as did the famed oracle of Delphi,
gave orders and commands, and settled all great questions that might be
submitted to its spiritual master. The priest, although he might be a
pattern of purity, and the quintessence of all that was good, having,
however, the sin of being in years, and not able, perhaps, to hide from
the spirit inhabiting the crystal all the transactions of his youth,
could not hold a direct communication with it. To arrange this, a
certain number of boys, and sometimes, in some of the temples, young
damsels, were retained, who, having never mixed with the world, could
not be supposed to be in any way contaminated by its vices. These alone
were said to be capable of beholding the spirit when he chose to make
his appearance in the divining glass, and interpreting to and fro the
questions put and answers received. Although it was not every boy or
_seer_ to whom was permitted the gift of spiritual vision, yet in
latter times, when divining crystals multiplied, little ragged boys
would run after the passers in the streets, and offer to _see_ any
thing that might be required of them, for a trifling gift, even a cake
or sweetmeat. In Egypt, the divining glass is superseded by putting a
blot of thick black fluid into the palm of a boy's hand, and commanding
him to see various people and things; of which practice Lane, in his
Modern Egyptians, gives some curious disclosures.

Divining mirrors were not confined to the East. Dr. Dee was the first
English impostor who vaunted the possession of one of these priceless
treasures. He had for the _seer_ one Keily, an Irishman; and to this,
doubtless, was attributable the impression that prevailed among the
astrologers and amateur spirit hunters, that when the spirits
condescended to speak, they always gave speech with a very strong spice
of the brogue. This "beryl," as it is called, was preserved among the
Strawberry Hill curiosities, and fell under the hammer of George
Robbins at the memorable sale. It proved to be a globe of _cannel
coal_. In Aubrey's Miscellany there is an engraving of another
larger crystal, and there are with it many wonderful stories. Yet,
notwithstanding the magic capabilities of these mirrors, they went out
of fashion until the beginning of the year 1850.

This revival and its consequences are like a page out of a silly
romance. The story, if told by a disinterested historian, would require
authentication as belonging to 1850. We therefore turn, by way of
voucher, to a publication called Zadkiel's Almanac for 1851. At page
46, after referring to the existence of magic crystals at the present
day, the writer, says, "One of large size was a few years ago brought
over to England by a friend of Lady Blessington, after the sale of
whose effects, it recently fell into the hands of a friend of mine;
and, having tested its powers, I have resolved on giving my readers an
account of this wonderful mode of communicating with the spirits of the
dead. The crystal is spherical, and has been turned from a large mass
of pure rock crystal. I have been shown some few others, but, with the
exception of one shown me by Lord S., they are all much smaller. These
smaller ones are said to be consecrated to angels of the planets, and
are, therefore, far less powerful than Lady Blessington's crystal,
which, being consecrated to the Archangel of the Sun, Michael, may be
consulted during four hours each day, whereas the others can generally
be used only for a very brief space of time; nor can very potent
spirits be called into them, or made to render themselves visible. In
this larger crystal is given most important information of the actual
existence of the soul after death, and of the state in which it exists
and will exist until the judgment."

"The first intimation we received," says Dickens, in his Household
Words, "of the revival of this notable practice of divination, was
about six months ago, when we were casually informed that the son of a
distinguished officer of the royal navy was, at that time, frequently
engaged in developing, before a few privileged friends, the
extraordinary faculty of being able to hold intercourse with the world
of spirits. It was added that the revelations made through the medium
of this youth were of so wonderful a nature, and carried such
conviction to the minds of those who listened, that they were declared
to be the result of more than human power."

The conjurer was asked, on one occasion, to describe Lord Nelson. And,
accordingly, the spirit, with an accuracy that was quite astonishing,
considering that no portrait, bust, or statue of Nelson is known to
exist, gave a full, true, and particular account of England's hero,
describing him as a very thin man, in a cocked hat, with only one eye,
one arm, &c.; and the truth of the description was declared to be
something truly marvellous.

A demand was made that the spirit of a deceased brother of one of the
querists should be summoned to appear. Presently he said, "I see him;
he has curly hair, and stoops a good deal. I can't exactly see his
features, but I think he squints." This account of her late brother's
personal appearance, though not very flattering, satisfied the lady as
far as it went; but being, like Macbeth,--

          "... bent to know,
    By the worst means, the worst,"

she required further proof of his identity. There was a pause for a
minute or two, and then the spirit seer spoke again--"He has got a
scroll in his hand, which he unf

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